Cancelloxus longior facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cancelloxus longior |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Blenniiformes |
| Family: | Clinidae |
| Genus: | Cancelloxus |
| Species: |
C. longior
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| Binomial name | |
| Cancelloxus longior Prochazka & Griffiths, 1991
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Cancelloxus longior is a cool type of fish. It's part of the clinid family. You can find it in the warm, subtropical waters off the coast of South Africa. This fish likes sandy areas. It lives from the shallowest parts of the ocean (the intertidal zone) down to about 10 meters (33 feet) deep. Male Cancelloxus longior can grow up to 9.1 cm (3.6 inches) long. Females can get a bit bigger, reaching about 12.1 cm (4.8 inches) long.
Contents
About the Cancelloxus longior
What Does It Look Like?
Body Shape
This fish has a very thin, long body. It looks a bit like a snake! Its head is short and pointed. The lower jaw sticks out a lot. It doesn't have any special growths (called cirri) above its eyes. The fin on its back (the Dorsal fin) is low and smooth.
Colour and Appearance
The body of the Cancelloxus longior is usually white. It has pale cream or light brown blotches. These blotches form irregular saddle-like shapes on its back. Sometimes, it's off-white with many small, irregular purple spots. These spots are bigger on its back. They become fewer below its side line (the lateral line).
This fish often looks a bit see-through. Below the saddle-like blotches, there's a shiny, pearly line. This line is separated by a thin white line. Then there's a light brown line. The bottom part of the fish is white to pearly white. The pupils of its eyes are black. The colored part of its eye (the iris) is yellow to orange. The rest of its eye has blotches, just like the skin around it.
Where Does It Live?
The Cancelloxus longior lives along the coast of South Africa. You can find it from Groenrivier on the West coast all the way to Fishhoek.
What Kind of Home Does It Like?
This fish loves areas with fine, light-colored sand. The sand needs to be packed together tightly. It prefers places where the sand surface is a bit uneven. It doesn't like sand that's just a thin layer over rocks. The sand needs to be deep. These sandy spots are often found in calm areas. This includes places behind headlands and inside bays. The fish likes wide-open sandy spaces.
How Does It Behave?
The Cancelloxus longior is very good at hiding! It lies just below the surface of the sand. Most of the time, only its head is showing. It digs itself into the sand by slowly moving its body in an "S" shape. This sideways movement helps it bury itself.
When it first digs in, you can usually see the dip in the sand where its body is. But the fine sand quickly settles back into the dip. This makes the surface smooth again. Soon, the fish becomes almost impossible to see!
What Does Its Name Mean?
The name "Longior" means "longer." This name was chosen because of the fish's very long, thin body shape.
