''Cepola pauciradiata'', the Guinean bandfish (also known as the red bandfish, a name given to most of the other members of the genus ''

Cepola ''Cepola'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the bandfish family, Cepolidae. The name red bandfish is applied to all members of this genus, but particularly ''C. macrophthalma'', and generally not ''C. australis'', which is al ...

'', 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 ...

''), 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 hor ...

belonging to the

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

Cepolidae, the bandfishes.. It is found on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast of Africa.

Taxonomy

''Cepola pauciradiata'' was first formally described in 1950 by the French

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Jean Cadenat Jean Cadenat (born Marmande, Lot-et-Garonne 16 April 1908, died Marmande 28 June 1992) was a French ichthyologist. In 1930, he joined the Agricultural Zoology station at La Grand Ferrade as an assistant preparator and the following year he complete ...

with the type locality given as the coast of Senegal. The specific name ''pauciradiata'' is a compound of ''pauci'' meaning "few" and ''radiata'' which means "rayed", a reference to the lower counts of soft rays in the

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 co ...

and

anal 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 se ...

s relative to other members of the genus. ''C. pauciradiata'' may be a junior

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''C. macrophthalma''.

Description

''Cepola pauciradiata'' 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 ...

f . It is an elongated fish with the rearmost soft rays of both the elongated

and

s 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 se ...

by a membrane to form a continuous fin.

Distribution and habitat

''Cepola pauciradiata'' has been recorded as occurring on the Atlantic coast of western Africa from Mauritania in the north to Angola in the south. It is most commonly found at depths between on muddy or sandt bottoms.

Biology

''Cepola pauciradiata'' occurs either singly or in small aggregations on muddy and sand bottoms. They hide within burrows that they dig themselves or else they are seen swimming above the substrate. They mostly feed on

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

, especially small crustaceans and

chaetognath The Chaetognatha or chaetognaths (meaning ''bristle-jaws'') are a phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton worldwide. Commonly known as arrow worms, about 20% of the known Chaetognatha species are benthic, and can ...

s. The biology of this fish is little known.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2287446 pauciradiata Fish described in 1950 Taxa named by Jean Cadenat