Two-spine batfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Two-spine batfish |
|
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification |
The Halieutichthys bispinosus, also known as the two-spine batfish or spiny batfish, is a type of ray-finned fish. It belongs to the family Ogcocephalidae, which are often called deep-sea batfishes or seabats. This unique fish lives in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean.
Contents
About the Two-Spine Batfish
How It Was Discovered
The two-spine batfish, Halieutichthys bispinosus, was officially described in 2010. Three scientists, Ho Hsuan-Ching, Prosanta Chakrabarty, and John Stephen Sparks, were the first to study it. They found it in the Gulf of Mexico, near Florida.
Before 2010, this fish was sometimes confused with another similar species, H. aculeatus. In fact, H. bispinosus is part of a group of three very similar batfish species. The other new species described at the same time was H. intermedius. All three belong to the genus Halieutichthys.
What Its Name Means
The name Halieutichthys bispinosus has a special meaning. The first part, Halieutichthys, comes from two Greek words. Halieutaea refers to another group of fish that these batfishes look similar to. Ichthys is the Greek word for "fish."
The second part of its name, bispinosus, means "two-spined." This name was chosen because this batfish has two clear, sharp bumps or "tubercles" behind each eye.
What Does It Look Like?
The two-spine batfish has a very flat head and body. It looks like a rounded disc, with a tail that is fairly long. Its mouth is very small. On its snout, it has a small area called an illicial cavity, which is covered by soft, folded skin. Inside this cavity is a single, bulb-like lure called an esca, which it uses to attract prey.
Its eyes have covered pupils. The openings for its gills are small and located behind its pectoral fins. It has small, tooth-like structures called gill rakers. The fish also has small dorsal and anal fins located towards the back of its body. Its pectoral fins are wide where they attach to the body, and its pelvic fins are normal-sized.
The skin of the two-spine batfish is covered in large, bumpy structures called tubercles. These tubercles are often sharp, especially on its upper body. There is a row of these bumps above each eye. Behind each eye, on the side of its shoulder, there's a triangle of three sharp tubercles. Adult batfishes have smooth skin without scales on their underside and large parts of their upper body.
This fish is usually greenish to dark brown. It has a pale, net-like pattern on its upper side. Its pectoral fins have two dark bars, one on the outer edge and one on the inner edge. These bars are separated by a bright white bar, and the very edge of the fin is often yellow. Young batfishes look similar to adults but have a large black spot on their pectoral fins that doesn't cover the whole fin. The two-spine batfish can grow up to about 9.9 centimeters (about 3.9 inches) long.
Where It Lives
The two-spine batfish lives in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean. You can find it from Vitginia south to the Gulf of Mexico, including the northern Bahamas. However, it doesn't seem to live near Cuba.
This fish prefers sandy areas on the ocean floor. It lives at depths between 0 and 400 meters (about 0 to 1,312 feet). Most often, it is found in shallower waters, usually less than 100 meters (about 328 feet) deep.
