Spotted weever

Eternal_Knight · May 28, 2012 06:07 7 73

Eternal_Knight OP

May 28, 2012 06:07

The spotted weever , Trachinus araneus , is a fish of the Trachinidae family, Perciformes order, and Actinopterygii class. It is up to 45 cm long, brown and yellow on the head and back, paler below with darker spots along the sides. The shape of its body is long and laterally flattened, the mouth almost is vertical in the head. The front half of the first dorsal fin is black and consists of three spines which are highly poisonous, as are the backward facing spines on the extremities of the gill covers.. The spotted weever lives close to thebottom down to about 100 m. It prefers a subtropical climate; the coordinates are 45N - 18S, 19W -36E. The spotted weever can be found from Portugal to Angola and the Mediterranean . It is of minor commercial importance. It inhabits the shallow waters to about 100m depth near rocks and sea grass nearby, burrowing in the bottom. Just as other weevers, it feeds on small fishes and crustaceans .

7 replies

Eternal_Knight OP

May 28, 2012 06:08

Weevers are nine species of fish of family Trachinidae , order Perciformes . They are long (up to 37 cm), mainly brown and have poisonous spines on their first dorsal fin and gill s. During the day, weevers bury themselves in sand, just showing their eyes, and snatch prey as it comes past, which consistsof shrimp s and small fish. Weevers are unusual in not having a swim bladder as do most bony fishes and as a result sink as soon as they stop actively swimming. With the exception of T. cornutus from the south-east Pacific, all species in this family are restricted to the eastern Atlantic (including the Mediterranean). This fish is used in the recipe for bouillabaisse . Weevers are sometimes erroneously called 'weaver fish', although the word is unrelated. In fact, the word 'weever' is believed to derive from the Old French word 'wivre', meaning serpent or dragon , from the Latin ' viper a'. It is sometimes also known as the viperfish, although it is not related to the viperfish proper. In Australia , sand perches of the family Mugiloididae are known as weevers.