Animalia Life

Evistias acutirostris
FAMILY
Pentacerotidae
TAXONOMY
Evistias acutirostris Temminck and Schlegel, 1844, Nagasaki, Japan.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Whiskered armorhead; Japanese: Tenguidai.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Body deep with a sail-like dorsal fin; the lower jaw has many small barbels. Color pattern denoted by a dark brown face and alternating dark brown and white vertical bands along the body; all fins are yellow except for the pelvic fins, which are dark brown. To 25.6 in (65 cm) total length.
DISTRIBUTION
Antitropical
DISTRIBUTION
, with populations in central and southern Japan, including the Izu and Ogasawara Islands, and Hawaii in the Northern Hemisphere and Lord Howe Island (Australia), and the islands of northern New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere.
HABITAT
Generally a deep-slope fish, from 65 to almost 1,000 ft (20 to almost 330 m) deep, depending upon locality. Found among rocky and coral reefs, usually in or near caves.
BEHAVIOR
May be found in pairs or small groups.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Uses its snout and barbels to probe the bottom for various invertebrates.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Gonochoristic. Presumed to spawn pelagically, but little is known of its reproductive
BEHAVIOR
and ecology. Eggs and larvae are pelagic.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN. Might be vulnerable because of its status as a commercial food fish.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Esteemed as a food fish, but juveniles and young adults are also taken, although infrequently, for the aquarium trade.

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