Japanese armorhead
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| Japanese armorhead | ||||||||||||||
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.gif/180px-Pentaceros_japonicus_(Japanese_armorhead).gif) Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
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| Pentaceros japonicus Döderlein, 1883 |
The Japanese armorhead or Japanese boarfish, Pentaceros japonicus, is an armorhead of the genus Pentaceros, found around Japan, southern Australia, and the North Island of New Zealand, at depths of between 200 and 650 m on the continental shelf. Its length is between 15 and 25 cm.
The Japanese armorhead has the strong bony head, pointed snout and deep laterally compressed body of the other boarfishes, but also greatly thickened strong sharp spines on the dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins. All these spines, and the head bones, have a patterning of raised ridges on them.
Colour is a uniform yellow, sometimes tinged with olive, with a pale central area on each scale.
They are a rare fish and little else is known about them.
[edit] References
- Pentaceros japonicus (TSN 645444). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 18 April 2006.
- "Pentaceros japonicus". 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
