Banded bellowsfish
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 Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
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| Centriscops humerosus (Richardson, 1846) |
The banded bellowsfish, banded snipefish, or bluebanded bellowsfish, Centriscops humerosus, is a snipefish of the family Centriscidae, found in southern temperate circumglobal waters south of Australia, South Africa, South America, and New Zealand, at depths of between 35 and 1,000 m. Its length is up to 25 cm.
The banded bellowsfish is a deep-bodied species with a tubular snout equal to about a quarter of the total body length. There is a distinctive hump on the back immediately behind the head. The dorsal fin is fleshy and points rearwards, with the second spine very solid and long. The scaleless body is tough and rigid with rough bristles, and there are some bony plates behind the head.
The colour is silvery with a series of six oblique bars of orange-red on each side, and the fins are a transparent pale orange.
They feed on bottom-living invertebrates, but may also pick individual animals from the plankton.
[edit] References
- Centriscops humerosus (TSN 166429). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 18 April 2006.
- "Centriscops humerosus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
