Hawaiian halosaurid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hawaiian halosaurid |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Notacanthiformes |
| Family: | Halosauridae |
| Genus: | Aldrovandia |
| Species: |
A. phalacra
|
| Binomial name | |
| Aldrovandia phalacra (Vaillant, 1888)
|
|
| Script error: The function "autoWithCaption" does not exist. | |
| Synonyms | |
|
|
Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".
The Hawaiian halosaurid (scientific name: Aldrovandia phalacra) is a fascinating type of fish that lives deep in the ocean. It's a ray-finned fish, which means its fins are supported by bony rays. This fish belongs to a group called Halosauridae. You can find it all over the world in very deep waters.
What Does It Look Like?
The Hawaiian halosaurid is a long, thin fish. It looks a bit like a cylinder. It usually grows to be about 40 to 50 centimeters long. That's about the length of a large ruler!
Its snout, which is its nose area, is pointed. The upper part of its mouth is longer than the lower part. Inside its mouth, it has several small patches with teeth on the roof. These teeth help it catch its food.
This fish doesn't have scales on its snout, head, or gill covers. The gill covers are the bony flaps that protect its gills. Adult male fish have special nostrils that look like dark tubes.
It has a row of 24 to 28 large scales along its side. This is called the lateral line, which helps fish sense movement in the water. Its dorsal fin (on its back) has 10 to 12 soft rays. The ventral fin (on its belly) has 1 spine and 8 soft rays. The pectoral fin (behind its gills) has 1 spine and 11 to 13 soft rays.
The head of this fish is a shiny blue color, darker underneath. There's a dark line around the edges of its gill covers. Its body is a pale gray color.
Where Does It Live?
The Hawaiian halosaurid is a deep-water fish. It lives at depths between 500 and 2,300 meters. That's like living at the bottom of a very tall skyscraper!
You can find it in warm waters. It lives near the edges of continents, around islands, and near underwater mountains called seamounts. Its home range includes the eastern and western parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It also lives near the coasts of South Africa and Brazil. You can find it in the Indian Ocean and around Hawaii.
In one study, scientists explored the Bear Seamount. They found that the Hawaiian halosaurid was the most common type of fish there.
How Does It Behave?
The Hawaiian halosaurid is a benthopelagic fish. This means it lives very close to the seabed, but it can also swim freely in the water just above it. It often hovers a few meters above the ocean floor.
When it sees food, it quickly darts down to catch it. It eats small invertebrates. These are tiny creatures without backbones. Its diet includes things like amphipods, mysids, copepods, and polychaete worms.
 | Claudette Colvin |
 | Myrlie Evers-Williams |
 | Alberta Odell Jones |
