Trichonotus
Trichonotus Sea Tiger, drawing from Marcus Eliezer Bloch's " Systema ichthyologiae iconibus CX illustratum "
The sand divers ( Trichonotus ) (Size: thrix, ikos = hair, noton = back) are a genus bass related marine fish. They come close to the coast in tropical Indo-Pacific and Red Sea.
Features
Sand diver eleven to 22 inches long. Your body is extremely elongated, band-shaped and covered by relatively large roundhouse. The cross section is round to oval upright. Dorsal and anal fins are long. The first rays of the dorsal fin are elongated filiform in male fish of some species, reach behind the center of the body and are used as a signal. The lateral line runs exactly along the midsection. The scales along the posterior part of the lateral line have deep v -shaped notches. The mouth is large and filled with small pointed teeth, the lower jaw is far ahead. The pelvic fins are supported by a spine and five soft rays. Some species can move their eyes independently. The eyes are covered oberseits extended by some scales.
Way of life
The fish live in groups in shallow water from a depth of five meters and feed one to three meters above the sea floor floating on zooplankton. The number of females exceeds that of males. Probably they have a harem of several females. In the area of dispute, the males spread means to impress their Dorsal spines and the fan-shaped pelvic fins far away. Wear them this applied to the body, they can hardly be distinguished from the females.
The sand divers feel threatened, they quickly dive head first into the sandy seabed. Then they rotate in the ground in an arc around to look out at another place only with the eyes again.
About her procreation almost nothing is known. In the Red Sea to spawn at dawn. It is believed that they operate no brood care.
System
The sand divers were counted for polyphyletic subordination of the dragon fish ( Trachinoidei ). They may form a monophyletic taxon, together with the sand cave fish ( Creediidae ) and the beak fish ( Percophidae ).
Species
- Trichonotus arabicus Randall & Tarr, 1994
- Trichonotus cyclograptus ( Alcock, 1890)
- Trichonotus elegans Shimada & Yoshino, 1984
- Trichonotus filamentosus ( Steindachner, 1867)
- Trichonotus halstead Clark & Pohle, 1996
- Trichonotus marleyi (Smith, 1936)
- Trichonotus nikii Clark & Schmidt, 1966
- Trichonotus Sea Tiger Bloch & Schneider, 1801
- Trichonotus somaliensis Katayama, Motomura & Endo, 2012