Fistularia tabacaria

Blaupunkt flute fish from the Gulf of Mexico.

The Blaupunkt flute fish ( Fistularia Tabacaria ) is a very slender, elongated predatory fish that is widely distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the Atlantic.

Dissemination

In the Atlantic extends its range to the east of Cap Blanc and Cape Verde to Angola, in the western Atlantic from southern Canada through the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies to the coast of South America.

Features

The Blaupunkt flute fish can reach a maximum length of two meters, but is usually at a length of 1.20 meters (without the long tail thread ). The body is cylindrical, very thin and without scales. It has a striking, long- drawn-out tubular snout. Dorsal and anal fin are each supported 14 to 16 soft rays. The swirl number is 87 The first four vertebrae are grown together. The tail ends in a long filament.

The Blaupunkt flute fish is brown on the upper side, lower side lighter and has a number of light blue dots on the center back of the head to the dorsal fin and on the middle of the body sides and two rows on the side of the tube mouth. The rows of dots on the sides of the body merge in the direction of tail lines.

Way of life

The Blaupunkt flute fish lives on seagrass beds and rocky reefs to depths of 200 meters. He lives as loners or in small schools and feeds mainly on small fish, besides also crustaceans or other invertebrates.