''Cepola haastii'' is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Cepolidae, the bandfishes. It is found on the inner continental shelf around

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Its length is between 15 and 25 cm. This species is known as the red bandfish, a name given to most of the other members of the genus '' Cepola'', especially the European species, ''

Cepola macrophthalma ''Cepola macrophthalma'' is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes. It is found in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean from Senegal north to the British Isles. This species is known as the red ba ...

''.

Taxonomy

''Cepola haastii'' was first formally described as ''Hypolycodes haastii'' in 1881 by the Scottish born New Zealand

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

, naturalist and surgeon

James Hector Sir James Hector (16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employe ...

with the type locality given as Waimarama on the east coast of the North Island near

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. The specific name honours the German-born geologist Johann Franz Julius von Haast, the first director of the Canterbury Museum in

Christchurch, New Zealand Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, who tasked Hector to describe this species.

Description

''Cepola haastii'' is an elongated fish with the rearmost soft rays of both the elongated

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

and anal fins connected to its lanceolate

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

by a membrane to form a continuous fin. This species attains a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . The upper part of the head, the eye, much of the body and the fins are reddish-orange marked with a number of pale silvery bars and blotches on the body and a pale horizontal streak along the middle of the flanks. The preoperculum and operculum, as well as the abdomen are silvery.

Distribution and habitat

''Cepola haastii'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to New Zealand and may be restricted to the northern part of that country. They live in burrows in soft sediments at depth of less than .

Biology

''Cepola haastii'' live in burrows and emerge from these burrows to feed on zooplankton like other bandfishes.

References

* * * Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) {{Taxonbar, from=Q2213368 haastii Endemic marine fish of New Zealand Fish described in 1881 Taxa named by James Hector