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Carapus acus (Brünnich, 1768)

Pearl fish
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Carapus acus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Carapus acus (Pearl fish)
Carapus acus
Picture by Wirtz, P.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Ophidiiformes (Cusk eels) > Carapidae (Pearlfishes) > Carapinae
Etymology:

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; non-migratory; depth range 1 - 150 m (Ref. 34024). Subtropical; 42°N - 15°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: including the Mediterranean. Probably south to Ascension Island.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.8 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6347)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 37 - 39. Eel-like, moderate to shallow body depth; cardiform teeth present but restricted to upper jaw symphysis; swim bladder constricted forming two chambers; lacking enlarged dentary or premaxillary fangs, dentary diastema, pelvic fins and swim bladder rockerbone (Ref. 34024). Possesses a free, movable maxilla (Ref. 6347).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Common species (Ref. 34024). Adults typically live as commensals in the gut of shallow-water holothurians, Holothuria tubulosa and Stichopus regalis (although some deep-water records exist, see Ref. 6347). Prejuveniles (tenuis larvae) probably inhabit the same host species while the vexillifer and egg-rafts are planktonic. The fish may partly protrude or entirely leave its host at night to feed on small fish and benthic invertebrates. Reproduction noted in July-September. (Ref. 4741).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

It is not yet established whether spawning is seasonal or sporadic in carapids. Eggs elliptical and planktonic (Ref. 6355).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle and C.R. Robins, 1999. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(18):178p. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 34024)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 08 July 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
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Ecology
Ecology
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Genetics
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 14.8 - 27.6, mean 19.4 °C (based on 324 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00102 (0.00046 - 0.00225), b=3.06 (2.88 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.63 se; based on food items.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (11 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 67 [15, 198] mg/100g; Iron = 1.05 [0.40, 4.30] mg/100g; Protein = 17.3 [14.9, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 0.31 [0.13, 0.70] g/100g; Selenium = 21.2 [4.7, 60.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 16.9 [5.6, 51.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.785 [0.404, 1.528] mg/100g (wet weight);