Giant wrasse
| Giant wrasse | ||||||||||||
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Achoerodus viridis , male. |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Achoerodus | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1863 |
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The genus of the giant lipfish ( Achoerodus , English: Blue Groper ) belongs to the subfamily of the tooth lipfish (Hypsigenyinae). Two species belong to it: the Eastern Blue Groper ( Achoerodus viridis ), whose range is on the east coast of Australia from Hervey Bay in southern Queensland to Wilsons Promontory in Victoria , and the Western Blue Groper ( Achoerodus gouldii ), which is found by Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia occurs to the west of Melbourne .
Appearance
Giant wrasse have thick lips. Young animals are brown to green-brown. Adult females are brown to reddish brown; almost all scales have a dark red point. Adult males have a strong blue color, which gives the fish its English name. The blue can range from ultramarine blue to cobalt blue . The Eastern Blue Groper has radial orange lines around the eyes.
Eastern Blue Gropers reach a length of up to 1.2 m and weigh up to 22 kg; however, fish weighing more than 15 kg are rare. The western species is larger and can grow up to 1.6 m long and 40 kg.
Development and reproduction
All giant wrasse begin their life with the female sex and reach sexual maturity with a size of 250 to 350 mm or with a weight of 300 to 900 g. As you continue to grow, you will reach the initial phase in which you can be female or male; in the terminal phase , from a height of 600 mm or a weight of 5 kg, they are male and receive their final color. What exactly initiates the gender change is unknown. In addition to size and weight, the number of females per male also seems to have an influence: If females are added to a population, the largest female becomes male, just as if the male is removed.
The giant wrasse spawns in the seaweeds of the estuaries from July to October ; this is where the young fish are usually found.
The maximum age of the species could be determined on the basis of otoliths and scales: specimens of the eastern variant with an age of up to 35 years were found; a fish 50 years old has been discovered by the western species.
behavior
The fish lives in a number of different coastal waters; adult animals are mostly found on reefs ; whereas juveniles are there in the seagrass. The Western Blue Groper lives in waters from 5 to 65 m deep; the eastern species in shallow water and up to 40 m deep.
Groups that consist of one male, two or three females and several young animals are common. It is not known whether there is a social hierarchy.
Giant wrasse are carnivores that feed on invertebrates such as sea cucumbers , crabs , clams, and starfish . Older animals can bite open clams; to eat starfish, giant wrasse turn them upside down and start to eat them from the bottom.
People and Blue Groper
Giant wrasse allow people to get close and accept food, which is why they are very easy to hunt and have been a popular target for spearfishing. As a result, from 1969 onwards they were protected from all fishing for the first time. In 1974 the ban was lifted again; Reintroduced for commercial fishing in 1975. Since 1980 the sale and spearfishing of blue gropers has also been banned for recreational fishermen.
Uncovered cases of illegal fishing find media coverage and a fine of AUS $ 11,000.
The Eastern Blue Groper has been the fish emblem of the State of New South Wales since 2002 .
literature
- Neil Andrew: Under Southern Seas the ecology of Australia's rocky reefs. UNSW Press, Sydney AUS 1999, ISBN 0-8684-0657-0 (English).
- Tim Simond: Diving de Luxe The most beautiful travel destinations around the world (original title: Dive in style translated by Gabriele Zelisko), Knesebeck, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-8966-0339-5 , p. 281 ff.
Individual evidence
- ^ Global biodiversity Information facility , accessed May 7, 2010
- ↑ Giant Wrasse on Fishbase.org (English)
- ^ Neil Andrew, 191
- ^ Neil Andrew, 192
- ^ Neil Andrew, p. 193
- ^ Australian Museum
- ↑ Sydney Morning Herald Beachgoers scream blue murder at fish killing , November 22, 2005
- ^ Symbols & Emblems of NSW . Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
Web links
- Giant Wrasse ( Achoerodus ) on Fishbase.org (English)
- Pictures on Flickr
- Eastern Blue Groper . In: Fishes . Australian Museum . Retrieved November 11, 2006.
- Blue Groper . In: Sportsfish Australia . Retrieved November 11, 2006.
- The Eastern Blue Groper . In: Local Marine Life . Abyss Scuba Diving. Retrieved November 11, 2006.