''Paranthias colonus'' (the Pacific creolefish) is a species of

grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

found in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. They are typically found in small aggregations well above reefs, but will retreat to the reef at the approach of danger. They form large midwater schools while feeding on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

. They occur up the a depth of 100 m. They feed mainly on small

planktonic Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in water (or air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they pro ...

animals that are picked individually from the water, made possible by their shortened snout which facilitates close-range binocular vision.

Description

From: The body of the Pacific creolefish is elongate, fusiform. The head is small, both profiles are convex. There are 37–44 rakers on the first gill arch. Dorsal rays IX, 19–21; anal rays III, 9-11; pectoral rays 19–23. The tail fin is strongly concave. Pacific creolefish grow to ~36 cm. Pacific creolefish young are often bright yellow with five small dark spots on back. The adults are greenish brown dorsally and reddish below, with five white or blue-white spots on the back. The fins are reddish.

Distribution

Eastern Pacific:

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, including the Revillagigedo, Galapagos, Clipperton,

Cocos Island Cocos Island () is a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 15 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Puntarenas Province, Province of ...

, and Malpelo islands.

Parasites

As all fish species, the Pacific creolefish harbours a number of parasites, including, off

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, the

digenea Digenea (Gr. ''Dis'' – double, ''Genos'' – race) is a class of trematodes in the Platyhelminthes phylum, consisting of parasitic flatworms (known as ''flukes'') with a syncytial tegument and, usually, two suckers, one ventral and one or ...

ns ''Prodistomum orientalis'', ''Brachyphallus'' sp., ''Lecithochirium'' sp., the

nematode The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...

s ''

Anisakis ''Anisakis'' ( ) is a genus of parasitic nematodes that have life cycles involving fish and marine mammals. They are infective to humans and cause #Anisakiasis, anisakiasis. People who produce immunoglobulin E in response to this parasite may su ...

'' sp. and ''Spinitectus'' sp., the

copepod Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...

s '' Caligus'' sp., and the

isopod Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

s ''Hatschekia'' sp.Mendoza-Cruz, M, Valles-Vega, I, Lozano-Cobo, H, Gómez del Prado-Rosas, MC & Castro-Moreno, PN. 2013. Parasite fauna of ''Paranthias colonus'' (Valenciennes, 1846) from el Sargento, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Neotropical Helminthology, vol. 7, N°1, jan-jun, pp. 13-2
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The diplectanid

monogenea Monogeneans, members of the class Monogenea, are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they ...

n '' Pseudorhabdosynochus jeanloui'' was described in 2015 from this fish off

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2107691 Serranidae Fish described in 1846