Round head batfish
| Round head batfish | ||||||||||||
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Round-headed batfish ( Platax orbicularis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Platax orbicularis | ||||||||||||
| ( Forsskål , 1775) |
The round-headed batfish ( Platax orbicularis ) lives in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific from the coast of East Africa to South Africa , Japan , New Caledonia and Tuamotu .
Young fish have very long dorsal and anal fins and resemble the drifting leaves ( mimicry ) in their mangrove habitat. They are dominated by the brown color of the three vertical bands that run above the eye, from the front back to the pectoral fins and from the dorsal fin to the anal fin. Adult fish get a more discus-shaped shape, the fins are no longer so high in relation to the body, the body becomes silver-gray, the ligaments become paler. They live further seaward, in deeper lagoons, reef channels and outer reefs .
Round-headed batfish live individually or in small groups and feed on algae, small invertebrates . They feed from the ground as well as from the open water.
literature
- Hans A. Baensch , Robert A. Patzner: Sea water atlas. Volume 7: Perciformes (perch-like). Mergus, Melle 1998, ISBN 3882441070 .
Web links
- Round-headed batfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Parachaetodon ocellatus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Rocha, LA, Allen, G. & Myers, R., 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2013.