Garibaldi (fish)
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| Hypsypops rubicundus (Girard, 1854) |
The garibaldi or garibaldi damselfish (Hypsypops rubicundus) is a fish of the damselfish family that is native to the northern subtropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, ranging from Monterey Bay to Guadalupe Island, Baja California.
Garibaldis are renowned for their brilliant orange color and grow up to 35 centimeters in length. They live at depths of up to 30 meters, usually in association with reefs and typically over rocky sea-bottoms. They feed mainly on invertebrates that they remove from the rocks. Adult garibaldis maintain a home territory. The male clears a sheltered nest site within his territory, and the female then deposits eggs within the nest. The male subsequently guards the nest until the eggs hatch.
The garibaldi is the official "marine fish" of the state of California and has a protected status in California coastal waters.
They are commonly seen around Catalina Island.
The average gestation period for the Garibaldi fish is 19-21 days.
An interesting feature of the Garabaldi is the ability to change its sex throughout its lifetime. This process is prompted when the ratio of males to females is out of balance. Garabaldis of the over-represented gender will change in order to make up the deficit. This process can be undergone multiple times by the same fish.
[edit] References
- "Hypsypops rubicundus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. November 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
- Hypsypops rubicundus (TSN 170120). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 11 March 2006.
