Red cornetfish

Preserved specimen

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

Dissemination

In the Atlantic extends its range to the east of the coast of the Spanish region of Galicia to Angola, in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to southern Brazil. In the Indo-Pacific region he comes from the East African coast to southern Japan, Victoria ( Australia), Hawaii and Tuamotu ago. He also lives in the Red Sea. Caught on the coast of Andalusia show that he immigrated through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. In the eastern Pacific it is replaced by Fistularia corneta, a very similar article

Features

The Rough flute fish can reach a maximum length of two meters, but usually has lengths from 1.50 to 1.80 meters. The body is cylindrical and very thin. It has a striking, long- drawn-out tubular snout. The dorsal fin is supported 13 to 15 soft rays, the anal fin 13 to 15 The caudal fin is running in a long filament of. The Rough flute fish is reddish or greenish brown to orange- brown in color. At night, he shows a pattern of broad cross- bands. Juveniles are dotted. Before and behind the dorsal fin each have a number of bone plates can be seen.

He is often confused with the Smooth flute fish ( Fistularia commersoni ), but which is greenish brown and no bone plates has at its center back.

Way of life

The Rough flute fish inhabits coastal areas with soft bottoms, usually at depths below 10 meters, adult animals below 30 meters. In the tropics it occurs only in areas where cool water lift reaches the surface. He lives as loners or in small schools and feeds on small fish and crustaceans.