Main identification features
- silvery + many dark spots
- in sea hare, sea cucumber
- maxilla not bound to head by skin
- gill membranes not united below
- with gill rakers
Star pearl fish
Elongate, short, compressed body, long slender tail; dorsal and anal fins confluent with tail fin; dorsal origin well behind origin of anal; upper jaw not bound to side of head by skin, extends well past eye; top jaw with a pair of slender incurving canines at front, followed by 2-3 rows of very small sharp teeth; lower jaw with a band of teeth, outer row with 7-8 enlarged teeth at front; roof of mouth with 2-3 large teeth at front, an a band of short, conical teeth on each side; gill opening extends above mid-side, gill membranes not united below; well developed gill rakers; well developed pectoral fin (2-3X length of head), 17-21 rays; anus before base of pectoral fin; anal fin rays longer than dorsal fin rays, 18-25 rays before the origin of the dorsal fin.
Translucent; silvery to coppery on cheek and abdomen; with many star-shaped dark blotches on head and body.
Reaches 17 cm
Lives in the body cavities of starfishes and holothurians; in the TEP lives inside sea cucumbers and the gill chamber of the Blunt-end Seahare, Dolabella auricularia
Depth range 3-116m
Indo-Pacific; E Africa to the Central Pacific (including Hawaii and the Marquesas); in the TEP is known from Ecuador to northern Costa Rica.
Attributes
Abundance: Common.
Cites: Not listed.
Climate Zone: Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).
Depth Range Max: 116 m.
Depth Range Min: 3 m.
Diet: mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves.
Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.
Feeding Group: Parasitic.
FishBase Habitat: Demersal.
Global Endemism: Indo-Pacific only (Indian + Pacific Oceans); "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All Pacific (West + Central + East); TEP non-endemic; All species.
Habitat: Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom); Reef only; Bivalves & sea cucumbers.
Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.
IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.
Length Max: 17 cm.
Regional Endemism: Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; Eastern Pacific non-endemic; Continent only; Continent; All species.
Residency: Resident.
Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.
Water Column Position: Bottom; Bottom only;
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