| Siganidae (Rabbitfishes) |
| 30.2 cm TL (male/unsexed) |
|
reef-associated; brackish; marine; depth range 1 - 30 m |
| Western Indian Ocean: several localities in East Africa, and from the Red Sea to the eastern Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. |
|
Dorsal spines (total): 13-13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-10; Anal spines: 7-7; Anal soft rays: 9-9; Vertebrae: 23-23. Upper body gray, green or brownish, silvery below; iris iridescent silver or golden. Body color patterns extend to the fins. Spines slender, pungent and venomous. Preopercular angle 88°-96°; cheeks scaled; midline of thorax, isthmus and midline of belly without scales. Frightened fish become mottled or with 6 diagonal zones across side. Tip of broad-based flap of anterior nostril reaching at least halfway to orifice of posterior nostril. |
| Inhabits shallow waters and generally in schools of 50 to several hundred individuals; prefers protected areas. Feeds by grazing on algae. |
|
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 04 February 2009 Ref. (130435)
|
| venomous |
|
A lessepsian migrant; see Introduction Table. Taken in gill nets, trammel nets, beach seines and on hooks (Ref. 6328). One of the most abundant alien fishes of the northern Levant shores, whose distribution extends as far as Candarli Bay in the northern Aegean Sea (Ref. 94612). Also Refs. 5385, 50162 and 43448. |
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