Indian woman fish
| Indian woman fish | ||||||||||||
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Indian womanfish on sale at a market in Metro Manila . |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Elops machnata | ||||||||||||
| ( Forsskål , 1775) |
The Indian womanfish ( Elops machnata ) is a large, over a meter long bony fish that occurs on the coast of the Red Sea and in the tropical Indo-Pacific from the South African Mossel Bay over the coasts of India to the western Pacific. The species is also found in brackish water and in fresh water in East Africa.
features
The Indian female fish has a very elongated body and can reach a maximum length of over four feet, but usually stays at a length of half a meter. The maximum published weight is 10.8 kg. The jaw teeth form brush-like bands, the lower jaw extends to the eye. In contrast to the West African female fish ( Elops lacerta ), the lower jaw protrudes in the Indian female fish and covers parts of the front row of teeth on the premaxillary .
Way of life
The Indian female fish occurs in shallow coastal waters near reefs and over sandy bottoms at depths of one to ten meters and is also found in lagoons and estuaries. It feeds on smaller fish, cephalopods, and shrimp and other small crustaceans. The adult fish spawn in large schools in the sea, the hatched Leptocephalus larvae then migrate to the coast and seek protected regions such as lagoons .
use
Indian female fish are used as food fish, but their meat is not particularly tasty and bone-rich.
literature
- Hans A. Baensch / Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 6 Non-Perciformes (Non-Perciformes) , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1998, ISBN 3-88244-116-X
- PJP Whitehead: The species of Elops (Pisces: Elopidae). Journal of Natural History Series 13, Volume 5, Issue 54, 1962, doi : 10.1080 / 00222936208651253
Web links
- Indian woman fish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Elops machnata inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Endangered Species . Submitted by: Adams, A., Guindon, K., Horodysky, A., MacDonald, T., McBride, R., Shenker, J. & Ward, R., 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2013.