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Japanese Pineapplefish
Monocentris japonica
Monocentris japonica is a pinecone fish of the family Monocentridae, found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Oceans, at depths between 2 and 100 m and can be found on both rocky and coral reefs. The fish is nocturnal and shelters in caves and under ledges during the day.
From the article Monocentris japonica on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The Japanese pineapplefish is yellow with distinct large scutes outlined in black. It has light-producing organs filled with luminescent bacteria on each side of the lower jaw, the purpose of which is not known, but it is conjectured that these may help it to see at night or to attract prey. The fish may grow to 17 cm (6.7 in) in length, but a length of 12 cm (4.7 in) is more common. As noted above, the Japanese pineapplefish is covered in scutes; these replace the usual scales, which are completely absent. Scutes are similar to scales in function, but differ in its formation: unlike the latter, which are formed from the epidermis, scutes are formed in the lower vascular layer of the skin.
Wikipedia: “Morphology”
What it does
The Japanese pineapplefish is often kept by aquarists, as it is not aggressive and is relatively easy to keep. In aquaria, it is usually fed fresh marine foods or brine shrimp.
Wikipedia: “Human interactions”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Monocentris japonica in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 372196.