Aeoliscus punctulatus

Spotted Schnepf knife fish ( Aeoliscus punctulatus )

The Dotted Schnepf knife fish ( Aeoliscus punctulatus ) is a small marine fish from the group of pipefish -like. He comes in the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean along the East African coast to the South African Algoa Bay near Port Elizabeth before.

Features

The Dotted Schnepf knife fish can reach a maximum length of 15 centimeters. His body is elongated with a sharp belly edge. The head terminates in a long, tubular mouth. The first dorsal fin is located on the body end. It is supported by three spines. As a member of the genus Aeoliscus the Dotted Schnepf knife fish can snap off the first dorsal fin spine by means of a joint in the middle sting. The second dorsal fin base ten to eleven soft rays. Like the tail fin is moved to the abdominal side. The anal fin has 12 to 13 soft rays. The color of the dotted Schnepf knife fish is bright with a greenish tinge. From the Pacific Striped Schnepf knife fish ( Aeoliscus strigatus ) it differs mainly by the small black dots scattered at a greater distance over the body.

Way of life

The Dotted Schnepf knife fish lives in small or large flocks of up to 150 individual animals. He swims close together in a vertical posture, with the head down and takes only on the run for a short time a "normal " horizontal swimming posture. For protection from predators, the fish also between the long spines of sea urchins or diadem between branched corals. Schnepf knife fish feed on small planktonic crustaceans matic.