Flute fish
| Flute fish | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Fistulariidae | ||||||||||||
| Stark , 1828 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Fistularia | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The flute fish ( Fistularia ), also called flute mouths , are a genus of predatory fish belonging to the monotypical family Fistulariidae in the order of the pipefish (Syngnathiformes).
features
Similar to the trumpet fish, they are characterized by a long, slender body that can be up to 1.7 meters long. The body shows a thickening at the level of the large eyes. The color ranges from light gray to soft blue or green tones. For camouflage , the animals can also adopt light stain patterns.
Way of life
They are found in all tropical seas. You can find flute fish on reef terraces near the coast and in lagoons , where they can usually be found individually and occasionally in small groups. They feed on smaller fish and crabs. When hunting, they occasionally allow themselves to be driven like driftwood near schools of fish, only to suddenly dash forward and make prey.
species
- Smooth flute fish ( Fistularia commersonii Rüppell , 1838 ), up to 1.60 meters long, Indo-Pacific , Red Sea , immigrated to the Mediterranean
- Fistularia corneta Gilbert & Starks, 1904 , up to 1.06 meters long, eastern Pacific from Baja California to Peru
- Rough flute fish ( Fistularia petimba Lacépède , 1803 ), up to 2 meters long, tropical Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.
- Blue spotted flute fish ( Fistularia tabacaria Linnaeus , 1758 ), up to 2 meters long, tropical Atlantic
literature
- Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World . 2006. ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
- Rudie H. Kuiter : Seahorses, pipefish, shredded fish and their relatives . Stuttgart: 2001. ISBN 3-8001-3244-3 .
Web links
- Flute fish on Fishbase.org (English)