Red boarfish

Antigonia rubescens

FAMILY

Caproidae

TAXONOMY

Antigonia rubescens Günther, 1860, Japan.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Pink boarfish.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Attains a total length (including the tail fin) of about 6 in (15 cm). The head and body are deep, greatly compressed, and shaped like a disk or diamond; the body depth is more than twice the head length. The dorsal head profile and the predorsal region are concave, and there is a bulge on the nape. The body, cheeks, and operculum are covered with small ctenoid scales. The mouth is small, and the upper jaw is shorter than the eye diameter. The dorsal fin has nine spines and 27–30 soft rays; the anal fin has three spines and 24–28 rays. The tail fin has 10 branched rays. The body is pale reddish silvery, with a dark red bar from the dorsal fin origin to the origin of the anal fin; another red bar lies above and below the eye, and there is a red band on the body at the rear of dorsal and anal fin bases. The abdomen and lower rear part of the head are silvery white.

DISTRIBUTION

Japan, Midway Island northwest of Hawaii, Taiwan, Philippines, China, and Australia.

HABITAT

Adults are usually caught with trawls near the bottom at depths of 333–3,000 ft (100–900 m).

BEHAVIOR

The behavior of the red boarfish is poorly known, because it lives too deep to be observed easily. They occur in large aggregations, as many individuals may be caught in a single trawl haul.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

No information has been published on the diet of the red boarfish. Probably feeds on plankton and small benthic invertebrates. Subject to predation by various piscivores that inhabit the outer shelf and slope region (e.g., sharks, lancetfishes, and gempylids).

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Poorly known. Probably a broadcast spawner, with pelagic eggs and larvae.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not listed by IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.