''Gonorynchus gonorynchus'' is a species of fish in 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 ...

Gonorynchidae Gonorynchidae is a family of the Gonorynchiformes which has a number of fossil taxa and one extant genus, ''Gonorynchus ''Gonorynchus'' is a genus of long thin gonorynchiform ray-finned fish, commonly called beaked salmon or beaked sandfish ...

, found on temperate

continental shelves A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

worldwide. Common names for this fish include mousefish, ratfish, sandfish, and sand eel.Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982)

Location

''Gonorynchus gonorynchus'' inhabits the coasts of the southern third of Africa stretching from

Skeleton Coast The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic coast of Namibia and south of Angola from the Kunene River south to the Swakop River, although the name is sometimes used to describe the entire Namib Desert coast. The indigenous San p ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

as well as the coasts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Its range also stretches into the Eastern Pacific with specimens found off the coast of Chile.

Diet and habitat

''Gonorynchus gonorynchus'' lives in and above the seabed at depths ranging from 0–200 m. It is generally nocturnal and buries itself in the seabed during daylight hours. It has a varied diet, eating zooplankton and free-swimming and buried invertebrates. The young are preyed upon by seabirds. As well adults of the species are preyed upon by juvenile

South African hake ''Merluccius capensis'' (shallow-water Cape hake or South African hake) is a ray-finned fish in the genus ''Merluccius'', found in the south-eastern Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of South Africa. It is a long, lean fish with a large head, simil ...

References

Gonorynchidae Fish described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Gonorynchiformes-stub