Yellowspotted sawtail
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| Yellowspotted sawtail | ||||||||||||||
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.gif/180px-Prionurus_maculatus_(Yellowspotted_sawtail).gif) Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
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| Prionurus maculatus Ogilby, 1887 |
The yellowspotted sawtail, Prionurus maculatus, is a tang of the family Acanthuridae, found in the southwest Pacific Ocean on rocky or coral reefs. Length is up to 45 cm.
The yellowspotted sawtail is a deep-bodied fish with a pointed snout, small fins, and a distinctive long-lobed caudal fin. Like all members of this family it has a sharp spine on each side of the caudal peduncle.
Yellowspotted sawtail are a uniform dark blue-grey in colour with numerous small red-orange spots on the body and fins.
It is herbivorous, feeding on a variety of small seaweeds.
[edit] References
- "Prionurus maculatus". 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
