Striped Shrimpfish

Aeoliscus strigatus

Summary 2

Aeoliscus strigatus, also known as the razorfish, is a member of the family Centriscidae of the order Syngnathiformes. This unique fish adopts a head-down tail-up position as an adaptation for hiding among sea urchin spines. The razorfish is found in coastal waters in the Indo-West Pacific. Its natural habitat includes beds of sea grass and coral reefs, where sea urchins are found.

Biology 3

Form schools among the spines of Diadema or staghorn corals, and feed on minute crustaceans in the zooplankton. Remarkable for their strange body shape and swimming habit: the body is encased in an armor of thin, transparent plates; they swim in synchronized groups, each fish in a vertical position with the snout pointing downwards.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) John E. Randall, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://d1iraxgbwuhpbw.cloudfront.net/images/species/aestr_u1.jpg
  2. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeoliscus_strigatus
  3. (c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/21031925

More Info