Galápagos Damselfish
| Galápagos Damselfish | ||||||||||||
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Galápagos Damselfish ( Azurina eupalama ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Azurina eupalama | ||||||||||||
| Heller & Snodgrass , 1903 | ||||||||||||
The Galapagos damsel ( Azurina eupalama ) is probably extinct species from the family of damselfish . It was endemic to the waters off the Galápagos and Coconut Island . Together with the swallow damselfish ( Azurina hirundo ), the Galápagos damselfish forms the genus Azurina .
description
The Galápagos damselfish reached a length of 15 centimeters. The color was predominantly light olive gray with a light blue tint. The ventral side was silvery. The mouth was dark. A black spot was visible at the base of the pectoral fins. The pectoral and anal fins were light gray. The dorsal fin was dark. The body was slimmer than other damselfish from the Galápagos Islands . The caudal fin was deeply forked. The upper rays of the caudal fin were slightly longer than the lower. The teeth were conical, stiff, and arranged in rows. The edge of the preoperculum was irregular and weakly serrated. The sideline organ was noticeable. The dorsal fin had thirteen thorns and eleven articulated rays. The anal fin had two thorns and eleven to twelve divided rays. The pectoral fin had 18 rays. On the first gill arch there were 29 gill spikes.
Habitat and way of life
The Galápagos Damselfish was known from the following regions: Floreana , Gardiner Bay, Española , Tagus Cove, Isabela , Marchena , James Bay and Sullivan Bay, Santiago , Wreck Bay, San Cristóbal , Academy Bay, Santa Cruz and Santa Fe . There was further evidence from the region of the Coconut Island. The species preferred open waters on steep reef walls, but also occurred in coastal waters at depths of up to 30 m. The Galapagos damsel was often in the company of Scissor-tailed damselfish ( Chromis atrilobata encountered) and fed mainly on plankton .
status
During the El Niño season 1982/1983, the water temperatures in the Galápagos Islands rose so much that plankton production stopped for at least a year. This caused the population of Azurina eupalama to collapse . Despite intensive searches in the following ten years, the species could no longer be detected.
literature
- Gerald R. Allen: Damselfish of the World , Mergus Verlag Melle, 1991, ISBN 3-88244-007-4
- Jack S. Grove and Robert J. Lavenberg: The Fishes of the Galápagos Islands . Stanford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0804722897
- Robert E. Snodgrass, Edmund Heller: Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos Expedition, 1898-1899. XV. New fishes , 1903. Online
Web links
- Galápagos Damselfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Photos and information
- Entry of the Galápagos Damselfish on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010 , accessed on March 15, 2012.