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Antagonistic behavior between two honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius Poey, 1876, at Curaçao

Antagonistic behavior between two honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius Poey, 1876, at... Reef sites Antagonistic behavior between two honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius Poey, 1876, at Curac¸ao The honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygo- nius Poey, 1876 (Ostraciidae) is easily distinguish- able from other Caribbean coral reef fish. Both females and males possess a heavy external bony box with uniformly hexagonal scale plates as armor, as well as a pair of spines projecting from the carapace above the eyes and anterior to the £ fin (Moyer 1984). They are known to feed on a variety of invertebrates, including tunicates, alcyonaceans, shrimps, gas- tropods, and at least 15 species of sponges (Randall 1967; Wulff 1994). During a coral reef biodiversity survey at Cur- ac¸ao (June 2017), two A. polygonius individuals were engaged in what appeared to be either a failed mating ritual dance or a male–male territorial dispute (Fig. 1). It is likely that the encounter is that of a male–male confrontation since the distinctive hum- ming sound of the male prior to gamete release was not heard, nor any spawning was observed (Moyer 1984). The fighting behavior resembled that of Lac- toria diaphana from the Indo-Pacific; upon seeing each other, the pair proceeded to flash and display their bright neon-blue coloration (Moyer 1984). Aggressively http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Coral Reefs Springer Journals

Antagonistic behavior between two honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius Poey, 1876, at Curaçao

García-Hernández, J.
Coral Reefs , Volume 37 (3) – Jun 5, 2018
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Antagonistic behavior between two honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius Poey, 1876, at Curaçao

Abstract

Reef sites Antagonistic behavior between two honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius Poey, 1876, at Curac¸ao The honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygo- nius Poey, 1876 (Ostraciidae) is easily distinguish- able from other Caribbean coral reef fish. Both females and males possess a heavy external bony box with uniformly hexagonal scale plates as armor, as well as a pair of spines projecting from the carapace above the eyes and anterior to the £ fin...
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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
Subject
Life Sciences; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Oceanography
ISSN
0722-4028
eISSN
1432-0975
DOI
10.1007/s00338-018-1705-y
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Reef sites Antagonistic behavior between two honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius Poey, 1876, at Curac¸ao The honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygo- nius Poey, 1876 (Ostraciidae) is easily distinguish- able from other Caribbean coral reef fish. Both females and males possess a heavy external bony box with uniformly hexagonal scale plates as armor, as well as a pair of spines projecting from the carapace above the eyes and anterior to the £ fin (Moyer 1984). They are known to feed on a variety of invertebrates, including tunicates, alcyonaceans, shrimps, gas- tropods, and at least 15 species of sponges (Randall 1967; Wulff 1994). During a coral reef biodiversity survey at Cur- ac¸ao (June 2017), two A. polygonius individuals were engaged in what appeared to be either a failed mating ritual dance or a male–male territorial dispute (Fig. 1). It is likely that the encounter is that of a male–male confrontation since the distinctive hum- ming sound of the male prior to gamete release was not heard, nor any spawning was observed (Moyer 1984). The fighting behavior resembled that of Lac- toria diaphana from the Indo-Pacific; upon seeing each other, the pair proceeded to flash and display their bright neon-blue coloration (Moyer 1984). Aggressively

Journal

Coral Reefs – Springer Journals

Published: Jun 5, 2018

References

  • Social organization and reproductive behavior of Ostraciid fishes from Japan and the Western Atlantic Ocean
    Moyer, JT
  • Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies
    Randall, JE
  • Sponges in time and space: biology, chemistry, paleontology
    Wulff, JL