Abudefduf saxatilis
| Abudefduf saxatilis | ||||||||||||
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Shoal on the coast of Jamaica |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Abudefduf saxatilis | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) | ||||||||||||
Abudefduf saxatilis is a species of damselfish that occurs both on the American Atlantic coast between Rhode Island (USA) and Uruguay , as well as near the West African Atlantic coast from the Cape Verde Islands south to Angola . The species is particularly common in the coral reefs of the Caribbean .
Together with two other damselfish species, Abudefduf saxatilis was described as early as 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linné , the founder of the binary nomenclature , in the tenth edition of his work Systema Naturae , at that time under the name Chaetodon saxatilis .
features
Abudefduf saxatilis is high back and flattened on the sides. Most specimens of the species are 15 cm long, the largest measured length is 22.9 cm, the maximum weight is 200 g. The body length is 1.6 to 2.0 times the body height. Young Abudefduf saxatilis and the females are greenish on the back, the sides of the body and the belly are whitish. Five conspicuous, vertical, black stripes, which narrow towards the belly, pattern the fish. A sixth, not always present, stripe can be seen on the rear end of the caudal stalk. A black point lies on the base of the pectoral fin. Older males take on a dark blue color and the stripes are less visible. Because of the stripes, the fish are called Sergeant Major in English-speaking countries , as it is reminiscent of the badges of rank of NCOs. Based on the English name, the name "Striped Sergeant" is also used in German.
- Fin formula : Dorsal XIII / 12-13; Anals II / 10-12, pectorals 16-20.
- Scale formula : SL 19–23.
- Gill rake : 23–31.
distribution
The range of Abudefduf saxatilis is limited to the Atlantic . In the western Atlantic it occurs from the 41st degree of north latitude off the coast of Canada via the state of Rhode Island in the USA to Brazil and Uruguay. In the Caribbean it is common in all reefs, for example the barrier reef off the coast of Belize .
Abudefduf saxatilis can also be found around the islands within the Atlantic, for example Fernando de Noronha off the coast of Brazil or Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa . On the West African coast, the distribution area extends far south to Angola.
In the Indo-Pacific is Abudefduf saxatilis by the closely related type vaigiensis Abudefduf represented , who used often as a subspecies of Abudefduf saxatilis was considered. Due to this earlier definition, the coasts of East Africa as well as Madagascar , the Seychelles or the islands of Mauritius and Réunion are often found in literature as the home of Abudefduf saxatilis . The Indian Ocean and the Red Sea , however, belong to the range of Abudefduf vaigiensis .
Way of life
Abudefduf saxatilis lives reef-bound in coastal rock or coral reefs, near the surface to depths of 20 meters. It feeds on algae, small crustaceans, small fish and larvae of various invertebrates . To this end, like the doctor fish, it usually forms large swarms of several hundred individuals.
A well-known Ectoparasite this Riffbarsches is Holobomolochus glyphisodontis from the family of copepods .
Individual evidence
- ^ WB Scott & MG Scott: Atlantic fishes of Canada. Canadian Bulletin of the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 219, 1988
literature
- Gerald R. Allen : Damselfish of the World . Mergus Verlag Melle, 1991, ISBN 3-88244-007-4 .
- Hans A. Baensch / Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 7 Perciformes (perch-like) , Mergus-Verlag, Melle 1998, ISBN 3-88244-107-0 .
- Ewald Lieske / Robert F. Myers: Coral fish of the world . 1994, year publisher, ISBN 3-86132-112-2 .
Web links
- Abudefduf saxatilis on Fishbase.org (English)