Smooth flute fish
| Smooth flute fish | ||||||||||||
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Smooth flute fish ( Fistularia commersonii ) |
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| Fistularia commersonii | ||||||||||||
| Rüppell , 1838 |
The smooth flute fish ( Fistularia commersonii ) is a very slender, elongated predatory fish that is common in the Indo-Pacific from the east coast of Africa to Rapa Iti , Easter Island , Mexico and Panama . In the north it reaches southern Japan, in the south the south coast of Australia , New Zealand and Lord Howe Island . It also occurs in the Red Sea and migrated into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal ( Lesseps Migration ).
features
The smooth flute fish can reach a maximum length of 1.80 meters, but usually stays at a length of one meter. Its body is cylindrical and very thin. It has a conspicuous, elongated, tubular snout. The dorsal fin is supported by 14 to 17 soft rays, the anal fin by 14 to 16. The caudal fin ends in a long, white filament. The number of Branchiostegal rays is five, the number of vertebrae is 83 to 86, the first four vertebrae have grown together. The upper side of the body is greenish in color, on the underside the color shifts more and more into silvery white. The back is patterned by two blue vertical stripes and a few rows of blue dots. The dorsal and anal fins are transparent. During the night the smooth flute fish takes on a night color with black and white horizontal stripes.
It is often confused with the rough flute fish ( Fistularia petimba ), which usually lives in deeper water, is reddish or brown-orange in color and has a series of bone plates on its center back.
Way of life
The smooth flute fish inhabits reefs and sandy areas between reefs up to a depth of 128 meters. It is the only flute fish in coral reefs . He avoids regions with very strong currents and mostly stays near the ground above reef tops. It lives as a loner or in small schools and feeds on small fish, crustaceans and cephalopods . Smooth flute fish hide in schools of non-predatory fish in order to approach their prey or drift motionlessly like driftwood towards their prey. Almost nothing is known about their reproductive biology.
literature
- Hans A. Baensch , Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 6 Non-Perciformes , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1998, ISBN 3-88244-116-X
- Rudie H. Kuiter : Seahorses, pipefish, shredded fish and their relatives , 2001, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8001-3244-3
Web links
- Smooth flute fish on Fishbase.org (English)