Smalleye squaretail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Smalleye squaretail | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.gif/180px-Tetragonurus_cuvieri_(smalleye_squaretail).gif){kind=small} Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Tetragonurus cuvieri Risso, 1810 |
The smalleye squaretail, Tetragonurus cuvieri, is a squaretail of the genus Tetragonurus found in all tropical and temperate oceans of the world, at depths up to 800 m. Its length is 20 to 70 cm.
The smalleye squaretail is a rare elongate blunt-headed fish with small fins, and spined sculptured scales. There are a pair of lateral keels on each side of the caudal peduncle, giving it a square cross-section, and no doubt being the origin of its common name.
Its colour is a uniform black-brown, often with blue or violet tints, and each iris is circled by green and gold bands. The jaws in the trapdoor-like mouth contain small close-set teeth which increase in number as the fish increases in size.
Smalleye squaretail live amongst jellyfishes or inside salps near the surface when young, and move into deeper water as adults. The flesh of this fish may be poisonous, possibly caused by ciguatera.
[edit] References
- Tetragonurus cuvieri (TSN 172580). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 18 April 2006.
- "Tetragonurus cuvieri". 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
