Slender-spined porcupine fish | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
Family: | Diodontidae |
Genus: | Diodon |
Species: | D. nicthemerus |
Binomial name | |
Diodon nicthemerus G. Cuvier, 1818 | |
Synonyms | |
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The slender-spined porcupine fish [1] or globefish [2] (Diodon nicthemerus) is a porcupinefish of the family Diodontidae, found in the waters of southern Australia, as far north as Port Jackson to Geraldton, Western Australia. It is most common in Port Phillip Bay and the coastal waters of Tasmania in shallow coastal waters and under manmade jetties. It is known to occur at a depth range of 1 to 70 m (3 to 230 ft). [3]
Diodon nicthemerus is similar in appearance and size to the three-bar porcupinefish ( Dicotylichthys punctulatus ), with both species reaching around 40 cm (15.7 inches) in total length, although patterning and morphology can differentiate the two. It is nocturnal, occasionally forms small groups, and feeds on benthic zone invertebrates. It possesses slender yellow spines used for defence against predators and has the ability to inflate its body so its sharp spines protrude when alarmed. [3]
Porcupinefish are medium-to-large fish belonging to the family Diodontidae from the order Tetraodontiformes which are also commonly called blowfish and, sometimes, balloonfish and globefish. They are sometimes collectively called pufferfish, not to be confused with the morphologically similar and closely related Tetraodontidae, which are more commonly given this name.
Blenny is a common name for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "true blennies", grouped under the order Blenniiformes; its members are referred to as blenniiformids. About 151 genera and nearly 900 species have been described within the order. The order was formerly classified as a suborder of the Perciformes but the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World divided the Perciformes into a number of new orders and the Blenniiformes were placed in the percomorph clade Ovalentaria alongside the such taxa as Cichliformes, Mugiliformes and Gobiesociformes.
Arripis trutta, known as the Australian salmon in Australia and as kahawai in New Zealand, is a South Pacific marine fish and one of the four extant species within the genus Arripis, native to the cooler waters around the southeastern Australian coasts and the New Zealand coastline. Other common names for this species include Eastern Australian salmon, bay trout, blackback salmon, buck salmon, cocky salmon, colonial salmon, newfish and salmon trout.
The coastal stingaree is an uncommon species of round ray in the stingaree family, Urolophidae, that is endemic to the eastern Great Australian Bight.
The black-blotched porcupinefish, also known as shortspine porcupinefish, is a member of the family Diodontidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific on coral and rocky reefs and in inshore waters. Other names are the blotched porcupinefish and the brown-backed porcupinefish.
The spot-fin porcupinefish, also known as the spotted porcupinefish, black-spotted porcupinefish or simply porcupinefish, is a member of the family Diodontidae.
The long-spine porcupinefish, also known as the freckled porcupinefish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.
Porcupinefishes or balloonfishes, are any of the various species of the genus Diodon, the type genus of Diodontidae.
Cyclicthys is a genus of fish in the porcupinefish family, Diodontidae. Species in the genus are often known as swelltoads.
Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres (660 ft) deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the sunlit epipelagic zone. Coastal fish can be contrasted with oceanic fish or offshore fish, which inhabit the deep seas beyond the continental shelves.
The smooth toadfish is a species of fish in the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine waters of southeastern Australia, where it is widespread and abundant. French naturalist Christophe-Paulin de La Poix de Fréminville described the species in 1813, though early records confused it with its close relative, the common toadfish. The two are the only members of the genus Tetractenos after going through several taxonomic changes since discovery.
Naso minor, the blackspine unicornfish, slender unicornfish, lesser unicornfish or pony unicornfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus described the Pisces as:
Always inhabiting the waters; are swift in their motion and voracious in their appetites. They breathe by means of gills, which are generally united by a bony arch; swim by means of radiate fins, and are mostly covered over with cartilaginous scales. Besides the parts they have in common with other animals, they are furnished with a nictitant membrane, and most of them with a swim-bladder, by the contraction or dilatation of which, they can raise or sink themselves in their element at pleasure.
Spinachia is a monospecific genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. The only species in the genus is Spinachia spinachia, the sea stickleback, fifteen-spined stickleback or fifteenspine stickleback, a species which lives in benthopelagic and in brackish environments of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. This species, the largest of the sticklebacks, grows to a length of 22 centimetres (8.7 in) SL. This species is the only known member of its genus Spinachia. It is of no interest as a commercial fish.
Agonus is a monospecific genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Agoninae in the family Agonidae. Its only species is Agonus cataphractus, commonly known as the hooknose, pogge or armed bullhead. This is a demersal fish found in the coastal waters of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.
The ornate rainbowfish is a species of rainbowfish endemic to an area in eastern Australia, where it is native to coastal regions and sandy offshore islands in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. It is the only known member of its genus. It is a popular aquarium fish.
Platycephalus laevigatus, the rock flathead, black flathead, grass flathead, king flathead, marbled-bellied flathead, Port Albert flathead, smooth flathead or Southern rock flathead, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Platycephalidae, the flatheads. This species is endemic to Australia.
Diodon eydouxii, commonly known as the pelagic porcupinefish, is a species of porcupinefish with a circumtropical marine distribution.
Conchoderma virgatum is a species of goose barnacle in the family Lepadidae. It is a pelagic species found in open water in most of the world's oceans attached to drifting objects or marine organisms.