Holocentridae
Caribbean collar soldiers Fish ( Myripristis jacobus )
The family of soldiers and hussars fish ( Holocentridae ) occurs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Features
Soldiers and hussars fish depending on the type 12-61 inches long. Your body is laterally flattened and moderately elongated. They are usually reddish or pink -eyed fish with large, prominent, and very rough comb scales and a forked tail fin. The scales centers are often brighter, sometimes silvery or white, and together form a bright Längsbänderung. Also, the sides of the head are scaly. On the top of the head are large mucus channels that can perceive the sidelines flow stimuli similar. The edge of the gill cover is cut and wearing spikes. The gills sting of some Indo-Pacific species of the genus Sargocentron is toxic. The mouth is terminal and is inclined upward, the maxilla is very large and often extends to behind the eye center, the premaxilla is protaktil ( vorstülpbar ). More jawbone are two Supramaxillaren. The lower jaw is facing. The teeth are small, narrow and stand in rows in the mouth, on the vomer ( vomer ), the palatine bone ( palatine ), with some species also on the outer wing strut ( Ectopterygoid ).
The large swim bladder can have contact with the skull. The number of Pylorusschläuche is eight to 25, the eight Branchiostegalstrahlen. The lateral line is complete and is accompanied 25-57 provided with pores shed.
Long dorsal fin consists of two parts, which are separated completely or by a deep cut. The spiny part to four times as long as twice the weichstrahlige part can be covered in a scaly pit. The dorsal fin is supported by 10 to 12, rarely to 13 hard jets and 11 to 17 soft rays. One of the hard jets located on the second, otherwise soft-rayed part of the dorsal fin. The anal fin has four spines, the third is the strongest and longest, and 7 to 16, usually 8 to 13 soft rays. The pelvic fins have soft rays a fin spines and five to eight (usually seven). The caudal peduncle is slender, the caudal fin is forked and is supported 18 to 19 fin rays. The fins can be white or yellow patterned. Also black markings may be present, as well on the gill covers.
Way of life
Soldiers and hussars fish live in flocks, in pairs or individually from the water surface to depths of 100 meters, the species of the genus Ostichthys up to over 200 meters depth. During the day, keep the animals together with cardinal perch, bigeye bass and glass or Beilfischen in caves, crevices or under overhangs in rock and coral reefs in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific the. At dusk and at night they go looking for food. They feed mainly on crustaceans, which they absorb from the ocean floor or in open water.
Reproduction
Tiefseequappenartige ( Ateleopodiformes )
Eidechsenfisch Related ( Aulopiformes )
Lantern Fishy ( Myctophiformes )
Gloss Fishy ( Lampridiformes )
Paracanthomorphacea (Perch -like salmon, dories, Stylephorus chordatus, cods )
Bart Fishy ( Polymixiiformes )
Mucus -like head ( Beryciformes )
Soldiers and hussar fish ( Holocentrimorphaceae )
Perch Related ( Percomorphaceae )
Soldiers and hussars fish spawn at night or at dusk in open water, where they give grunting noises with the help of the swim bladder. During the spawning process, they rise umeinanderkreisend to the water surface and separate after spawning and one stroke of the tail fin. The eggs contain oil droplets have a diameter of 2 to 3 mm and float on the surface. The larvae are pelagic, an elongated shape and silvery color. On the head they wear long spines. This is called the larval form Rhynichthys stage. At a size of 3 cm they go about the hidden life of the adult animals.
Outer systematics
The soldiers and hussars fish were found until recently in the order of mucus head -like ( Beryciformes ), but are the sister group of the perch family ( Percomorphaceae ) and therefore classified in the recent revision of the teleost systematics a separate sub-division, the Holocentrimorphaceae.
Inside systematics
The Holocentridae consist of two subfamilies. There are about 80 species in eight genera.
- Subfamily Hussars fish ( Holocentrinae )
- Subfamily soldier fish ( Myripristinae )
Fossil record
The Holocentridae are an ancient fish family, which is known by fossil Alloberyx, Caproberyx, Ctenocephalichthys, Paracentrus, Paraspinus, Stichoberyx and Trachichthyoides already from the Cretaceous period and with Africentrum, Berybolcensis, Eholocentrum, Holocentrites and Tenuicentrum from the Tertiary. Fossils of the extant genera Holocentrus, Myripristus and Sargocentron come from the Middle Eocene of Monte Bolca near the Italian city of Verona.