Bandfish

Cepola macrophthalma

The band fish ( Cepolidae ) are a family of perch relatives ( Percomorphaceae ). The usually red or pink fish live in the eastern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific over muddy and sandy bottoms.

Features

Ribbon fish are 10 to 80 inches long and are usually reddish or pink. Their dorsal fin is continuous and has no or up to four spines, usually three. The anal fin has no or up to two fin spines. The jaws are covered with small teeth. Vomer and palatine bones are toothless. The number of Branchiostegalstrahlen is six. The lateral line runs just below the dorsal fin base.

All ribbon fish feed on zooplankton. Set pelagic eggs.

System

There are two subfamilies, five genera and 22 species:

  • Subfamily Cepolinae, eel-like elongated and laterally strongly flattened body with a Flossensaum, which is formed from the coalesced dorsal, anal and caudal fins. Dorsal and anal fin with more than 65 fin rays. Shed tiny. 65 to 80 vertebrae. genus Acanthocepola Acanthocepola krusensternii Acanthocepola abbreviata ( Valenciennes, 1835)
  • Acanthocepola indica ( Day, 1888)
  • Acanthocepola krusensternii ( Temminck & Schlegel, 1845)
  • Acanthocepola limbata ( Valenciennes, 1835)
  • Cepola australis Ogilby 1899
  • Cepola haastii ( Hector, 1881)
  • Cepola macrophthalma (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Cepola pauciradiata Cadenat, 1950
  • Cepola schlegelii Bleeker, 1854
  • Genus Owstonia Owstonia dorypterus ( Fowler, 1934)
  • Owstonia grammodon ( Fowler, 1934)
  • Owstonia maccullochi Whitley, 1934
  • Owstonia macrophthalmus ( Fourmanoir, 1985)
  • Owstonia nigromarginatus ( Fourmanoir, 1985)
  • Owstonia pectinifer ( Myers, 1939)
  • Owstonia simoterus (Smith, 1968)
  • Owstonia tosaensis Mr. Kamohara, 1934
  • Owstonia totomiensis Tanaka, 1908
  • Owstonia weberi ( Gilchrist, 1922)
  • Pseudocepola taeniosoma Mr. Kamohara, 1935
  • Sphenanthias sibogae Weber, 1913

Way of life

The band fish of the subfamily Cepolinae are solitary or in small groups, like eels and fish jaw in self-dug burrows in the sea floor. The tubes are built mainly in muddy, covered by Muschelgrus or gravel soils. Ribbon fish feed on small planktonic crustaceans, sample table living invertebrates are not eaten.

Since they mainly live below the visited by divers depths, Vol fish are hardly ever seen. In many areas, however, they are often fished commercially and available in markets.

Ribbonfish Acanthomorpha Achille Valenciennes William Ogilby Pieter Bleeker Joseph S. Nelson FishBase
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