Animalia Life

Ablabys taenianotus
FAMILY
Tetrarogidae
TAXONOMY
Ablabys taenianotus Cuvier, 1829, Mauritius.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Rogue fish.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Grows to 5.9 in (15 cm) maximum length. A strongly compressed waspfish with a sail-like dorsal fin that originates above the eye. Cockatoo waspfishes are reddish brown with black lines and black and white blotches sprinkled over the dorsal and lateral surfaces.
DISTRIBUTION
Widely distributed in the western Pacific as far north as Japan and south to Australia and Fiji. Can be found as far west as India and as far east as the Society Islands.
HABITAT
A cryptic species that typically is collected among seaweed in littoral or rocky intertidal habitats in shallow depths to 263 ft (80 m).
BEHAVIOR
Cockatoo waspfishes tend to be more active at dusk or night. As is seen in some other scorpaenoids, this species often is found rocking back and forth in response to the surge, to mimic the seaweed that surrounds it. This species is quite venomous.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Like many waspfishes, this species feeds primarily on small crustaceans, particularly shrimps, and smaller fishes.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Little is known.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Not commercially fished but collected for the aquarium trade.

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