Equulites klunzingeri

Equulites klunzingeri, or Klunzinger's ponyfish, is a marine, demersal species of ponyfish from the family Leiognathidae which was originally found only in the Red Sea. It is colonizing the Mediterranean as part of the Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal.

Equulites klunzingeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Leiognathidae
Genus: Equulites
Species:
E. klunzingeri
Binomial name
Equulites klunzingeri
(Steindachner, 1898)
Synonyms[1]
  • Equula klunzingeri Steindachner, 1898
  • Leiognathus klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898)
  • Photoplagios klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898)
  • Leiognathus mediterraneus Rhasis Erazi, 1943

Description

Equulites klunzingeri has a laterally compressed, oblong body, large eyes and a downward pointing, protractile mouth, which can project to the same length as the head and with jaws line with villiform teeth. It has a long dorsal fin, starting above the pelvic fins, which has seven spines, the second of which is very long, and 15-16 soft rays. The anal fin has three spines and 15-16 soft rays. The dorsal and anal fin rays are sheathed in a scaly membrane. The tail is forked and the lateral lines continues on to the caudal peduncle. The skin is covered in small cycloid scales. The upper part of the body is mottled grey marked with pink blotches while the belly is silvery white and there is a black line along either side of the base of the dorsal fin. There is another black line immediately anterior to the eye and the iris is golden. It grows to 11 cm standard length.[2][3][4]

Distribution

Equulites klunzingeri is native to the Red Sea and it has been recorded in the Sea of Oman but not yet off the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.[3] Since being first recorded in the Mediterranean off Syria in 1931[5] it has invaded the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. It has now been found as far north as Croatia and as far west as Tunisia.[6][7][8]

Biology

Equulites klunzingeri is a demersal species, inhabiting inshore waters over sandy or muddy substrates and occurs down to a depth of 70m where it feeds on benthic invertebrates which are caught with the protruding mouth.[3] It is euryhaline and can enter estuarine environments.[4] It spawns in the summer months,[6] the eggs and larvae are planktonic.[3] The females attain sexual maturity at 5.5 cm and the males at 5.8 cm, this equates to an age of about 2–3 years, the normal lifespan is 6 years. It is gregarious and forms schools, which can be large or small.[4] E. klunzeringii, like other members of the family Leiognathidae, uses a bioluminescent organ situated around its oesophagus to camouflage the fish from below by counter-illumination, the bioluminescence is produced by symbiotic bacteria Photobacterium leiognathi.[9]

Fisheries

This is not a quarry species for fisheries but it is taken as a bycatch in fisheries using trawls and seines.[10]

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References
  1. "Synonyms of Equulites klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898)". Fishbase. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  2. J.C Hureau. "Pony fish (Leiognathus klunzingeri)". Marine Species Identification Portal: Fishes of NE Atlantic and Mediterranean. ETI Bioinformatics. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  3. Laith A. Jawad; Seishi Kimura; Juma M. Al-Mamry (2012). "First record of the Klunzinger's ponyfish Equulites klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898) (Leiognathidae) from the coasts of Muscat City at the Sea of Oman" (PDF). Anales de Biología. 34: 31–36.
  4. "Equulites klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898)" (PDF). Identificazione e distribuzione nei mari italiani di specie non indigene (in Italian). Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  5. Erhan Irmak; Semih Engin; Dilruba Seyhan; Uǧur Özden (2015). "First record of the Slender Pony Fish, Equulites elongatus (Günther, 1874) (Osteichthyes: Leiognathidae), from the Turkish coast of the Levantine Sea". Zoology in the Middle East. 61 (4): 386–388. doi:10.1080/09397140.2015.1101928.
  6. Christine Marie V. Casal; Estelita Emily Capuli (2016). R. Froese; D. Pauly (eds.). "Equulites klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898)". Fishbase. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  7. M. Pećarevići; A. Bratoš Cetinić; J. Dulĉić; M. Calicć (2013). "Introduced marine species in Croatian waters (Eastern Adriatic Sea)" (PDF). Mediterranean Marine Science. 14 (1): 244–237.
  8. Ertan Taskavak & Murat Bilecenoglu (2001). "Length–weight relationships for 18 Lessepsian (Red Sea) immigrant fish species from the eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 81 (5): 895–896. doi:10.1017/S0025315401004805.
  9. Margaret McFall-Ngai; James G. Morin (1991). "Camouflage by disruptive illumination in leiognathids, a family of shallow-water, bioluminescent fishes" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Biology. 156: 119–137.
  10. "Equulites klunzingeri (Steindachner, 1898)" (PDF). Pesca Libano Project. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
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