The yellowhead jawfish (''Opistognathus aurifrons'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

jawfish Opistognathidae, the jawfishes, are a family of fishes which have been classified within the order Perciformes, suborder Percoidei but many authorities now classify this family within the clade Ovalentaria and consider that its affinities within ...

native to

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. It is found at depths of from . The head and upper body are a light, but brilliant, yellow color slowly fading to a pearlescent blue hue. It can reach a length of TL. Yellowhead jawfishes are usually found in Florida. They are usually found in shallow areas where materials are available for burrow construction. The Jawfishes live in rubble areas and sand in groups of up to 70 species. It remains near its relatively small

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, and is typically seen with only the head and upper section of its body protruding from its burrow, although it sometimes can be found hovering nearby. It is able to arrange material using its mouth, carrying sand, shells, or small rocks from one location to another. It is a

mouthbrooder Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

, with the male carrying the eggs in its mouth until they hatch. Yellowhead jawfish have two different types of responses to intruders. Flight or Fight. The type of response depends on the type of incoming fish. During flight, the fish will swim away from the intruder and in go into their burrow, covering the opening with a large rock. During fight, the fish will spit sand or rocks at the intruder. Colin, P. (1971). Interspecific relationships of yellowhead jawfish, opistognathus-aurifrons(pisces, opistognathidae). Copeia., 3, 469.

In captivity

In the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

it feeds on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

ic matter, commonly taking

brine shrimp ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp. It is the only genus in the family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Urmia La ...

mysis shrimp Mysida is an order of small, shrimp-like crustaceans in the malacostracan superorder Peracarida. Their common name opossum shrimps stems from the presence of a brood pouch or "marsupium" in females. The fact that the larvae are reared in ...

, and prepared frozen and pelleted fish food. When other fish come near its territory, it will open its jaw wide and try to warn them off, but it rarely attacks. they are one of the most docile jawfish towards fish of its kind and can be kept in small groups of 1 per 10 gallons.

References

External links

* Fish of the Atlantic Ocean

Yellowhead jawfish The yellowhead jawfish (''Opistognathus aurifrons'') is a species of jawfish native to coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea. It is found at depths of from . The head and upper body are a light, but brilliant, yellow color slowly fading to a pearlesce ...

Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Joseph Cheesman Thompson Fish described in 1905 {{ray-finned fish-stub