Sailfin doctor fish
| Sailfin doctor fish | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yellow sailfin doctor ( Zebrasoma flavescens ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Zebrasoma | ||||||||||||
| Swainson , 1839 |
The sailfin doctor fish ( Zebrasoma ) are a genus of the doctor fish family . They are native to the tropical seas of the Indo-Pacific , the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf . They are absent in the tropical Atlantic.
features
Sailfin doctor fish grow to be 20 to 40 centimeters long, depending on the species. They have laterally flattened bodies with a high dorsal and anal fin. These are set up when showing off . As with all types of doctor fish, the mouth is terminal, but the snout of sailfin doctor fish is somewhat elongated. This enables you to graze algae in places inaccessible to other fish species. Like all surgeon fish, they have "scalpels" or bone blades at the base of the tail. The fish use this for defense.
species
There are seven types described:
- Indian sailfin doctor ( Z. desjardinii )
- Yellow sailfin doctor ( Z. flavescens )
- Mauritius sailfin doctor ( Zebrasoma gemmatum )
- Black sailfin doctor ( Zebrasoma rostratum )
- Hawthorn sailfin doctor ( Z. scopas )
- Eastern sailfin surgeonfish ( Z. veliferum )
- Blue sailfin doctor ( Z. xanthurum )
literature
- Hans A. Baensch , Robert A. Patzner: Mergus sea water atlas. Volume 7: Perciformes (perch-like). Mergus-Verlag, Melle 1998, ISBN 3-88244-107-0 .
- André Luty: Doctor fish - way of life - care - species. Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen 1999, ISBN 3-921684-61-7 .
- Andreas Vilcinskas: Marine animals of the tropics. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-07943-0 .
- Helmut Debelius , Rudie H. Kuiter : Doctor fish and their relatives. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3669-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zebrasoma on Fishbase.org (English)