Aulostomidae

Trumpetfishes
a trumpetfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Syngnathiformes
Family: Aulostomidae
Genus: Aulostomus
Lacépède, 1803
Species

Aulostomus chinensis
Aulostomus maculatus
Aulostomus strigosus

The family Aulostomidae is a monogeneric family of highly specialized, tubularly-elongated marine fishes commonly known as trumpetfishes. Aulostomids belong to the order Syngnathiformes, along with the seahorses and the similarly built cornetfishes. There are three distinct species for the family's sole genus, Aulostomus.[1][2]

The name Aulostomidae is a composite of two Greek words: "aulos", meaning flute and "stoma", meaning mouth. This is named due to the unusual appearance of having tubular snouts that species in the family have.[1] "Flutemouth" is another less-common name for the members of the family (although this word is more often used referring to closely related cornetfishes of the family Fistulariidae).

Trumpetfishes are found in tropical waters worldwide, with two species in the Atlantic and one in the Indo-Pacific. They are mostly demersal reef-dwellers, where one species seems to prefer rocky substrata.

They are relatively large for reef fish, where they reach almost up to 1 m in length. Bodies of trumpetfish are elongated and rigid, and pike shaped.[3] Dorsal and anal fins are almost closely adjacent to the tail, where individual dorsal spines reach midway towards the head region. Similar to most members of the order Syngnathiformes, the bodies of trumpetfish are inflexible, supported by interwoven struts of bone. Distinct traits of the family is their long, tubular snout ending with somewhat nondescript jaws. Members of the family have the capability to expand their jaws quickly into a circular gaping hole almost to the body's diameter when feeding.

Aulostomids are highly carnivorous fish. They stalk[3] their prey by hovering almost motionlessly a few inches above the substrate, inching their way towards unsuspecting prey. Once close enough, they rapidly dart in, and expand their jaws rapidly. Opening their tube-like mouths in quick succession creates a strong suction force, which draws prey straight into the mouth. Aulostomids are known to feed almost exclusively on small, schooling reef fishes.[4]

While they have no commercial fisheries value, members of the family have been known to occasionally be found in the aquarium trade. Not popular aquarium fish, they are common enough with websites having instructions in keeping them in captivity.[5]

Species

There are currently 3 species in this monogeneric family.

Family Aulostomidae

References

  1. ^ a b Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). "Aulostomidae" in FishBase. February 2011 version.
  2. ^ "Aulostomidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=166409. Retrieved 04 February 2007. 
  3. ^ a b Juanes, F., Buckel, J.A. and Scharf, F.S. (2002). "12 Feeding Ecology of Piscivorous Fishes". Handbook of fish biology and fisheries. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-63-205412-3. http://people.uncw.edu/scharff/publications/2002%20Book%20chapter%20(Juanes,%20Buckel,%20Scharf).pdf.  Accessed 2009-06-08.
  4. ^ Orr, J.W. & Pietsch, T.W. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 170–171. ISBN 0-12-547665-5. 
  5. ^ "Chinese trumpetfish - Aulostomus chinensis". Aquatic Community Tropical Fish. AquaticCommunity.com. 2004. http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/marinefish/chinesetrumpetfish.php. Retrieved 2007-02-04. 

External links