Bluefin driftfish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bluefin driftfish | ||||||||||||||
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.gif/180px-Psenes_pellucidus_(Bluefin_driftfish).gif) Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
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| Psenes pellucidus Lütken, 1880 |
The bluefin driftfish or scissortail, Psenes pellucidus, is a driftfish of the genus Psenes, found pelagically in all the world's oceans, at depths down to 1,000 m. Its length is up to 80 cm.
The bluefin driftfish has a soft and flabby almost transparent body, covered in small easily-dislodged scales. The lower jaw contains a distinctive series of large teeth and the fish feeds on zooplankton and small pelagic fishes. It is an oceanic species associated with jellyfish and floating weed patches.
Adult body colour is a dark brown to deep purple, with dark blue eyes. Young are translucent with brown spots, and the first dorsal fin is dark.
[edit] References
- "Psenes pellucidus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 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
