Red-lipped Batfish

Diet

The species is a piscivore / invertivore, mainly feeding on other small fish and small crustaceans like shrimps and mollusks.

Body

The body color of the red-lipped batfish is light brown and a greyish colour on its back, with a white stomach. On the top side of the batfish there is usually a dark brown stripe starting at the head and going all the way down the back to the tail. The snout and horn of the red-lipped batfish is a brownish color. As the name of the fish states, the batfish has bright, almost fluorescent, red lips. The colour of the squamation of the red-lipped batfish is shagreen-like with a relatively smooth texture. The bucklers are concealed by a layer of fine spinules.

When compared to the porrectus, the red-lipped batfish has a shorter disk perimeter but higher fibre pectoral fin ray count. Regarding the number of scales along the lateral like, there are four to nine subopercular scales, six to nine on the cheek, usually. The red-lipped batfish has around 19-20 vertebrae.

Some may wonder where the fish gets its name from. Batfish get their name from their display. Batfish are said to resemble some characteristics that a bat possesses. However, the red-lipped batfish is not the only batfish in existence. All types of fish that are considered "batfish" have consolidated bodies. All batfish fall into one of two families: Ephippidae or Ogcocephalidae. Batfish that belong to the Ephippidae family typically have prolonged fins and parallel abridged bodies. On the other hand, batfish that belong to the Ogcocephalidae family, like the red-lipped batfish, usually have transversely compressed bodies and don't have normal sized fins.

The red-lipped batfish reaches up to 20.3 cm (8.0 in) in length.

Red-lipped batfish are not typical saltwater fish, in fact they are far from it. From appearance, to physical ability they are far from ordinary. Batfish are not good swimmers; they are bottom dwellers that "walk" across the ocean floor instead of swimming. They have altered pectoral fins that enable them to "walk".

On the top of the batfish's head there is a special body part that extends outward called an illicium. After the red-lipped batfish fully matures, its dorsal fin becomes a single spine-like projection that comes out of the top of the head. The batfish uses the illicium as a way to lure prey near them.

The longlure angler fish also has an illicium on the top of its head. Much like the red-lipped batfish, the longlure angler fish also uses its illicium to hunt for prey.

At the top of its illicium is an esca. The esca emits a bright light and since these fish dwell in deep waters, the light lures other fish to where the batfish is positioned. The esca lures the prey over to the batfish which then allows it to eat those small creatures which fall into its trap.

Red-lipped batfish have extremely bright red lips, which allows people to distinguish them from other batfish. Marine biologists believe that the bright red lips of the red-lipped batfish may be used to enhance species recognition during spawning. Although they are very strange looking, they are harmless to humans.

Habitat

Red-lipped batfish can be found at depths of 3 to 76 m (10 to 249 ft), in the Pacific Ocean around the Galapagos Islands and off Peru. It has been noted before that a few specimens of red-lipped batfish were found in fish nets in California, but these type of sightings are extremely rare, and could very well be another type of batfish. They are bottom dwellers, so they are usually found within the sand or ocean floor. Although they are considered shallow water forms, they occasionally come to the surface over deep water. They tend to associate themselves with the edges of reefs up to about 120 m deep.

Reproduction

Sexually reproduce. Egg Type: Pelagic, Pelagic larva.