''Acreichthys tomentosus'', commonly known as the bristle-tail filefish, is a
species of
demersal
The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
fish which belongs to the
family Monacanthidae and is widespread throughout the
tropical waters of the Indo-west Pacific. It is a small fish that can reach a maximum size of 12 cm length and has the ability to rapidly change color and skin texture and patterns as to avoid detection and consequently predation.
It is
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.
Description
On average, it ranges from 3.8 to 8.9 centimeters (1.5-3.5 inches) in length. It has 27-30 anal spines and 26-29 anal soft rays.
Distribution and Ecology
It is found in the waters around
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Ishigaki island, the
Philippines,
Indonesia,
New Guinea,
Queensland,
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, and
Tonga. It inhabits shallow
coral reefs, preferring sections of the reef which contain
seagrass. It prefers temperatures of 27.6-29 degrees Celsius (81.7-84.2 degrees Fahrenheit), a dissolved
oxygen concentration of 4.51-4.59 mL/L (4510-4590 ppm), and a depth of 2–15 meters (6.6-49.2 feet).
Diet
It feeds on
amphipods,
polychaetes, and
mollusks
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
.
References
External links
*http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=220054
*http://www.fishbase.org/summary/7849
*
Monacanthidae
Fish described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Tetraodontiformes-stub