Cepola macrophthalma | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Acanthuriformes |
Family: | Cepolidae |
Genus: | Cepola |
Species: | C. macrophthalma |
Binomial name | |
Cepola macrophthalma | |
Distribution of Cepola macrophthalma
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Synonyms [2] | |
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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 bandfish, though this name is also given to other members of the genus Cepola .
Cepola macrophthalma was first formally described as Ophidion macrophthalmum in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus with the type locality given as Algiers. [3] In 1764 Linnaeus described the genus Cepola with O. macrophthalmum as its type species by monotypy. [4] The specific name, macrophthalma is a compound of macro meaning "large" and ophthalmus which means "eyed", a reference to the large eyes which are larger than a third of the length of the head. [5]
It is found on the coast and inner continental shelf of the eastern Atlantic between northern Senegal and Scotland and the Mediterranean west of the Aegean Sea and the Nile Delta. [2] It can be found on sandy and muddy ocean bottoms at depths of between 10 and 400 metres (33 and 1,312 ft). [2] [6]
Cepola macrophthalma has a thin, ribbon-like body, which tapers to a pointed tail. It is red in color, with an orange or yellow underside. It has large, silvery eyes. Its dorsal and anal fins stretch the length of its body and are connected to the caudal fin by a membrane creating an almost continuous fin. It has a large mouth, at an oblique angle, with thin, glassy, widely spaced teeth. [2]
These fish are highly variable in length, but an average length is 40.0 cm total length (15.7 in). The maximum length recorded for this species is 80.0 cm total length (31.5 in). [2] Taxonomic distinguishing features include 67–70 dorsal fin soft rays, 60 anal fin soft rays, two unsegmented dorsal fin rays, and a caudal fin with long median rays free at the tips. [2]
Little was known of the behavior of this species until a population was discovered off the coast of the island of Lundy off the coast of Devon. Since then, many studies have been conducted on the population there, and on captive fish from Lundy. [6] The population at Lundy once comprised around 14,000 individuals, but numbers have dropped severely, despite a ban on fishing in Lundy's waters. [7] [8]
These fish are burrowers, and they feed largely like garden eels, sticking their bodies out of their burrows to catch zooplankton. Unlike garden eels, they are not fixed in their burrows, but can move about both inside their burrows and in the open. [6] Their burrows have funnel-shaped openings, due to the large quantities of sediments they displace to construct their burrows, and they consist largely of single elliptical vertical shafts with a chamber at the bottom. The burrows reach depths of up to 1 metre (39 in), and 49 centimetres (19 in) is considered to be typical. [6] Bandfish excavate and maintain their burrows at dawn or dusk, with their mouth, and by pushing mud about with their body. They displace about three litres (three quarters of a gallon) of mud and sand in the excavation of a single burrow, and they take around six hours to construct their burrows. [6] Their burrows often connect with those of the crab Goneplax rhomboides and other burrowing fish and crustaceans, and these associations may be deliberate. [9]
Bandfish are an important part of the diets of many oceanic predators, especially John Dories, [10] but also other fish, common dolphins [11] and the musky octopus, Eledone moschata . [12] Bandfish may have taken up an ecological niche burrowing and eating zooplankton due to strong pressures from predators. [13]
Historically, this species was an important food fish. A recipe for this species [14] is found in the earliest cookbook, by the Greek cook Mithaecus, and is quoted in the Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus. Andrew Dalby translated it as follows:
Tainia: gut, discard the head, rinse, slice; add cheese and oil. [15]
Tainia was the name by which the ancient Greeks called Cepola macrophthalma, and the oil was olive oil. [15] In modern times the species is of a lesser importance. In some countries (such as Italy and Spain) it is still consumed, but in others (such as Greece) it is generally discarded when caught by fishermen trying to catch more desirable species. [16] The fish is prized by British deep-sea anglers, and poaching by anglers is a major threat to the population at Lundy. [7]
The ribbonfish are any lampriform fishes in the family Trachipteridae. There are about 10 recognized species in the family. These pelagic fish are named for their slim, ribbon-like appearance. They are rarely seen alive, as they typically live in deep waters, though are not bottom feeders. The perciform fish known as the red bandfish is sometimes referred to as ribbonfish, but it is unrelated to any ribbonfish in the Trachipteridae.
Cepola haastii is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes. It is found on the inner continental shelf around New Zealand. 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.
The bandfishes, family Cepolidae, are 23 species of marine ray-finned fishes, They are native to the East Atlantic and Indo-Pacific wherethey dig burrows in sandy or muddy seabeds and eat zooplankton.
Nemipteridae, the threadfin breams, whiptail breams, or Sultan Ibrahim, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Spariformes. These fishes are found in the Indo-West Pacific region.
The New Zealand smooth skate is a skate of the genus Dipturus, found around New Zealand at depths between 15 and 1,300 m.
The American gizzard shad, also known as the mud shad, is a member of the herring family of fish and is native to large swaths of fresh and brackish waters in the United States of America, as well as portions of Quebec, Canada, and Mexico. The adult has a deep body, with a silvery-green coloration above fading to plain silver below. The gizzard shad commonly resides in freshwater lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and streams but can also reside in brackish waters, as it does on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Their range is across most of the continental United States, although they typically go no further north than New York and no further west than New Mexico. They are a large part of many of the ecosystems they inhabit and can drive changes in phyto- and zooplankton, thereby indirectly affecting other planktivorous fishes. The gizzard shad has been widely used as a food source for game fish, with varied success in management and effectiveness.
The smooth butterfly ray is a species of cartilaginous fish in the family Gymnuridae. It is a member of the order Myliobatiformes, which contains 10 total families. Its natural habitats are shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, estuarine waters, and coastal saline lagoons. Its common name is derived from its compressed body, pectoral fins that are wider than their length, and overall diamond shape.
The thornback ray, or thornback skate, is a species of ray fish in the family Rajidae.
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 also known as the Australian bandfish.
Cepola pauciradiata, the Guinean bandfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes. It is found on the Atlantic coast of Africa.
Eledone moschata, the musky octopus, is a species of octopus belonging to the family Octopodidae.
Scorpaena scrofa, the red scorpionfish, bigscale scorpionfish, large-scaled scorpion fish, or rascasse is a venomous marine species of ray-finned fish in the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea, in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Indian Ocean.
The Atlantic mudskipper is a species of mudskipper native to fresh, marine, and brackish waters of the tropical Atlantic coasts of Africa, including most offshore islands, through the Indian Ocean and into the western Pacific Ocean to Guam. The Greek scientific name Periophthalmus barbarus is named after the eyes that provide the Atlantic mudskipper with a wide field of vision. The Atlantic mudskipper is a member of the genus Periophthalmus, which includes oxudercine gobies that have one row of canine-like teeth.
Acanthocepola is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes. They are native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
Owstonia is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes. It is the only genus in the monotypic subfamily Owstoninae. They are found in deep waters of the Indian and Pacific Ocean.
Spicara maena, the blotched picarel, is a species of ray-finned fish native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The male grows to a maximum length of about 25 cm (10 in), and the female reaches 21 cm (8 in). This fish is fished commercially in some areas.
The Australian bandfish is a species of bandfish in the family Cepolidae. It has been reported from the Indo-Pacific coastal regions of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, although some of these records may represent confusion with other species.
Cepola schlegelii i is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific region.
Jaydia queketti, the spotfin cardinal or signal cardinalfish, is a species of ray-finned fish from the Indian Ocean, it is a member of the family Apogonidae. It has colonised the eastern Mediterranean Sea by way of the Suez Canal since 2004.
Cepolinae is one of two subfamilies of marine ray-finned fish belonging to family Cepolidae, the bandfishes.