Fistularia petimba Lacepède, 1803
Red cornetfish
photo by Randall, J.E.

Family:  Fistulariidae (Cornetfishes)
Max. size:  200 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 4,650.0 g
Environment:  reef-associated; brackish; marine; depth range 10 - 200 m
Distribution:  Western Atlantic: southeastern Florida, USA to Central America according to Ref. 7251, Massachusetts to southern Brazil (Ref. 47377). Also found in Argentina (Ref. 86323). Eastern Atlantic: Galicia, Spain (Ref. 74931), Cape Blanc and Cape Verde to Angola (Ref. 6557). Reported from Walvis Bay, Namibia (Ref. 4272). Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the Hawaiian and Tuamoto islands, north to southern Japan and the Ogasawara Islands, south to Victoria, Australia (Ref. 33390). This name has often wrongly been used for the more common Fistularia commersonii (Ref. 2334). Mediterranean: Cadiz, Spain (southern Iberian Peninsula) (Ref. 34227).
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-15; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 14-15. With a row of bony plates along the midline (absent in F. commersoni); reddish or brownish-orange in color (whereas F. commersoni is greenish-brown).
Biology:  Found in the sublittoral zone (Ref. 11230); inhabits coastal areas over soft bottoms, usually at depths greater than 10 m (Ref. 30573). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Feeds on small fishes and shrimps (Ref. 3401). Maximum length reported is 200 cm TL (Ref. 26999), however, no specimen over 100 cm is known to J.E. Randall (Ref. 11441).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 29 January 2013 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless
Country info:   
 


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