The trumpetfishes are three species of highly specialized, tubularly-elongated marine fishes in the genus ''Aulostomus'', of the

monogeneric In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family Aulostomidae. The trumpetfishes are members of the order

Syngnathiformes The Syngnathiformes are an order of ray-finned fishes that includes the trumpetfishes and seahorses.FishBase (2005)Order Summary for Syngnathiformes Version of 2005-FEB-15. Retrieved 19 Aug 2008. These fishes have elongated, narrow, bodies sur ...

, together with the

seahorses A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

and the similarly built, closely related cornetfishes. The generic name, ''Aulostomus'', is a composite of two Greek words: ''aulos'', meaning flute, and ''stoma'', meaning mouth, because the species appear to have tubular snouts. "Flutemouth" is another less-common name for the members of the family (although this word is more often used to refer to closely related cornetfishes of the family

Fistulariidae The cornetfishes or flutemouths are a small family, the Fistulariidae, of extremely elongated fishes in the order Syngnathiformes. The family consists of a single genus, ''Fistularia'', with four species, found worldwide in tropical and subtropic ...

). Trumpetfishes are found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

waters worldwide, with two species in the Atlantic and one in the Indo-Pacific. They are mostly

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 ...

reef-dwellers, where one species seems to prefer rocky substrate. They are relatively large for reef fish, where they reach almost 1 m in length. Bodies of trumpetfish are elongated, rigid, and pike-shaped. Accessed 2009-06-08. Their dorsal and anal fins are closely adjacent to the tail, where individual dorsal spines reach midway towards the head region. Similar to most members of the order Syngnathiformes, the bodies of trumpetfish are inflexible, supported by interwoven struts of bone. A distinct trait of the family is their long, tubular snouts ending with somewhat nondescript jaws. Members of the family have the capability to expand their jaws quickly into a circular, gaping hole almost to the body's diameter when feeding. Aulostomids are highly

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

fish. They stalk their prey by hovering almost motionlessly a few inches above the substrate, inching their way towards unsuspecting prey. Once close enough, they rapidly dart in and expand their jaws rapidly. Opening their tube-like mouths in quick succession creates a strong suction force, which draws prey straight into the mouth. Aulostomids are known to feed almost exclusively on small, schooling reef fishes. While they have no commercial fisheries value, members of the family have been known to occasionally be found in the aquarium trade. Although not popular aquarium fish, they are common enough to have websites featuring instructions on keeping them in captivity.

Species

Currently, three species in this genus are recognized: * ''

Aulostomus chinensis The Chinese trumpetfish, ''Aulostomus chinensis'', is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Aulostomidae. Description ''Aulostomus chinensis'' is a medium-sized fish which grows up to 80 cm in length. Its body is elongated and com ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1766) (Chinese trumpetfish) * ''

Aulostomus maculatus ''Aulostomus maculatus'', the West Atlantic trumpetfish, is a long-bodied fish with an upturned mouth. It often swims vertically while trying to blend with vertical coral, such as sea rods, sea pens, and pipe sponges. Description ''Aulostomus m ...

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, 1841 (West Atlantic trumpetfish) * ''

Aulostomus strigosus The trumpetfishes are three species of highly specialized, tubularly-elongated marine fishes in the genus ''Aulostomus'', of the monogeneric family Aulostomidae. The trumpetfishes are members of the order Syngnathiformes, together with the sea ...

Wheeler Wheeler may refer to: Places United States * Wheeler, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, California, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, Illinois, a village * Wheeler, Indiana, a ...

, 1955 (Atlantic trumpetfish)

References

External links

A YouTube video of a trumpetfish exhibiting its hovering swimming style
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2513729 Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Marine fish genera Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède

Species

See also

References

External links