Peacock pygmy lionfish
| Peacock pygmy lionfish | ||||||||||||
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Peacock pygmy lionfish |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Dendrochirus biocellatus | ||||||||||||
| Fowler , 1938 |
The peacock pygmy lionfish ( Dendrochirus biocellatus ) is a representative of the scorpion fish (Scorpaenidae). It lives in the coral reefs of the tropical Indo-Pacific at depths of one to 40 meters from Mauritius to Japan , Australia and French Polynesia . The fish are nocturnal and live very hidden. During the day they stay in caves and in the cavities of large sponges .
features
The peacock pygmy lionfish is drawn in red and black. Its pectoral fins are large and look like the wings of a butterfly. The fin rays are connected to the end with the fin membrane. The first hard-radiating dorsal fin has 13 fin rays, which are provided with poison glands, the second dorsal fin has nine soft rays. The anal fin has three hard and five soft rays. Here, too, the hard rays and the only one of the pelvic fins are connected to poison glands.
It is the only lionfish that, as an adult, has two to three eye spots on the second dorsal fin. The eye spots are black with a yellow border. If the animal is excited, during the hunt, courtship or encounter with a rival, the spot turns light blue-green. A pupil-like small black spot remains in the center. There are two lobed antennae on the upper jaw. With a length of twelve centimeters, the peacock pygmy lionfish remains relatively small.
literature
- Robert A. Patzner, Horst Moosleitner, Hans A. Baensch : Non-Perciformes (non-perch-like), as well as butterfly and angelfish. Mergus, Melle 1999, ISBN 3-88244-116-X ( Sea Water Atlas. Volume 69).
- Ewald Lieske, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish of the world. Year, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-86132-112-2 .
- Dieter Eichler, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish Central Indo-Pacific. Year, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-86132-225-0 .
Web links
- Peacock pygmy lionfish on Fishbase.org (English)
swell
- ↑ Ellen Thaler : Sham eye be watchful! Eye spots in fish . In: Coral. Marine aquarium specialist magazine . No. 23 (October / November), 2003, ISSN 1439-779X .