Sling-jaw wrasse

Slingjaw wrasse
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Labridae
Genus: Epibulus
Species: E. insidiator
Binomial name
Epibulus insidiator
(Pallas, 1770)
Synonyms
  • Sparus insidiator Pallas, 1770
  • Epibulus insidiator flava Bleeker, 1849
  • Epibulus insidiator fusca Bleeker, 1849
  • Epibulus striatus F. Day, 1871

The slingjaw wrasse, Epibulus insidiator, is a species of wrasse native to the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and the African coast to the Tuamotus and Hawaii, and from the southern waters of Japan to New Caledonia. This species can be found on coral reefs at depths from 1 to 42 m (3.3 to 137.8 ft). The jaws of this species can swing out to form a long tube when opened (up to half the length of the fish's body) which creates suction to allow the fish to ingest the small crustaceans and fishes upon which it preys. It can reach a standard length of 54 cm (21 in). This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can be found in the aquarium trade.[2]

References

  1. ↑ To, A., Liu, M., Craig, M. & Rocha, L. 2010. Epibulus insidiator. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 18 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Epibulus insidiator" in FishBase. August 2013 version.
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