Broom tail wrasse
| Broom tail wrasse | ||||||||||||
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Broom-tailed lipfish ( Cheilinus lunulatus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cheilinus lunulatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Forsskål , 1775) |
The broom-tailed lipfish ( Cheilinus lunulatus ) lives endemically in the coral reefs of the Red Sea at depths of 2 to 30 meters. In the Indo-Pacific , it is replaced by the trident-sized lipfish ( Cheilinus trilobatus ), to which it is closely related.
features
Its beefy shape resembles a grouper . Broom-tailed lipfish grow to be 45 to 50 centimeters long. They are unmistakable because of their large caudal fin with elongated fin rays and the black and yellow, ear-like spot on the posterior gill cover. In adult animals, the head is bright green, the pectoral fins yellow, the mouth, the edges of the dorsal , ventral and anal fins , and the entire caudal fin are blue.
Way of life
The broom-tailed lipfish inhabit coral reefs, the adjoining scree and sand areas as well as seagrass meadows. The fish eat hard-shelled invertebrates, especially mollusks .
literature
- Helmut Debelius , Rudie H. Kuiter : Wrasse. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3973-1
Web links
- Broom tail wrasse on Fishbase.org (English)
- Cheilinus lunulatus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Choat, JH, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2014.