Long-nosed doctor fish
| Long-nosed doctor fish | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Long-nosed doctor fish ( Naso brevirostris ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Naso brevirostris | ||||||||||||
| ( Cuvier , 1829) |
The long-nosed nose doctor fish ( Naso brevirostris ), also called unicorn fish , is a species from the doctor fish family .
The long-nosed doctor fish is found from the Red Sea to Japan, Hawaii and the Marquesas .
The adult fish can usually be found at a depth of 4 to 46 meters on the steep slopes of outer reefs .
The long-nosed nose doctor fish has a laterally flattened, elongated oval and brownish-colored body. All individuals have two pairs of sharp thorns or scalpels on the base of the tail. Sash nose doctor fish can reach a body length of up to 60 centimeters. The nose-like elongated frontal cusp is striking. It occurs in both sexes and begins to develop as soon as the fish have reached a length of 10 to 20 cm. The growth of this hump forces the fish to change its diet, as it prevents the fish from continuing to eat algae from substrates. As the horns grow, the fish therefore switches to plankton as a source of food.
The long-nosed doctor fish is a diurnal fish. The fry live in schools. Adult fish live mostly in pairs or in small groups.
literature
- André Luty; Doctor fish - way of life - care - species , Dähne Verlag Ettlingen, 1999, ISBN 3-921684-61-7
Web links
- Short-Nosed Unicornfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Naso brevirostris inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.2. Posted by: Choat, JH, Abesamis, R., Clements, KD, McIlwain, J., Myers, R., Nanola, C., Rocha, LA, Russell, B. & Stockwell, B., 2010 . February 2014.