Round headed fiddle rays
Round headed fiddle rays | ||||||||||||
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Round-headed fiddle-ray ( Rhina ancylostoma ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
Rhina | ||||||||||||
Bloch & Schneider , 1801 | ||||||||||||
Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
Rhina ancylostoma | ||||||||||||
Bloch & Schneider, 1801 |
The round-headed violin ray ( Rhina ancylostoma ), also known as the arch- mouthed violin ray or guitar fish , lives in the Red Sea , the Indian Ocean and in the western tropical and subtropical Pacific from South Africa to Australia and southern Japan on sandy and muddy surfaces near reefs at depths of 3 to 90 Meters. The kind stands alone in the monotypical genus Rhina and the subfamily Rhininae.
features
In terms of their external appearance, the round-headed violin rays look like a transition form between sharks and rays. The fish have an elongated shark-like body, two large dorsal fins , the first standing in front of or directly above the pelvic fins , and a large, clearly forked caudal fin . The pectoral fins are widened like rays . It is named after the broad, rounded head or the arched mouth. Next to the eyes and on the neck are three thorny ridges characteristic of the species. Round-headed fiddle rays are 2.40 to 2.70 meters long and 135 to 140 kilograms. They are gray or brown to olive in color and have numerous white spots on their backs. The underside is light.
Way of life
Round-headed fiddle rays live in larger groups. The animals feed on crustaceans , such as crabs and prawns , as well as molluscs and other bottom-living invertebrates . They are ovoviviparous and give birth to around four cubs that are 45 centimeters long at birth.
literature
- Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World. 4th edition. Wiley, New York 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
- Dietrich Starck (ed.), Kurt Fiedler: Fish. Spectrum, Heidelberg 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6 ( textbook of special zoology. Volume 2, part 2).
- Robert A. Patzner, Horst Moosleitner, Horst Baensch: Non-Perciformes (non-perch-like) as well as butterfly and angelfish. Mergus, Melle 1999, ISBN 3-88244-116-X ( Sea Water Atlas. Volume 6).
Web links
- Round-headed fiddle rays on Fishbase.org (English)
- Rhina ancylostoma inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: McAuley, R. & Compagno, LJV (SSG Australia & Oceania Regional Workshop, March 2003), 2003. Retrieved October 17, 2013.