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- ›Encheliophis
Pinhead Pearlfish
Encheliophis boraborensis
The pinhead pearlfish, Encheliophis boraborensis, is a species of slender, ray-finned fish in the family Carapidae found in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean; it normally lives inside the body cavity of a sea cucumber such as the pineapple sea cucumber (Thelenota ananas) or the leopard sea cucumber (Bohadschia argus).
From the article Pinhead pearlfish on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The pinhead pearlfish is a slender, tapering, eel-like fish that can grow to a length of 30 cm (12 in). It has very small eyes and near the jaws are star-shaped melanophores which are more numerous in older specimens. This fish has no scales or pelvic fins, but does have short pectoral fins and an elongated dorsal fin with 31 to 42 soft rays. The equally long anal fin has 45 to 57 soft rays, and C. boraborensis is the only species in the family to have melanophores on its anal fins. It is a medium brown-coloured fish with a solid body and much enlarged swim bladder that occupies most of its body cavity.
Range & habitat
The pinhead pearlfish is found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean at depths to 150 m (490 ft). Its range extends from Mauritius and the Society Islands, northwards to Taiwan and the Yaeyama Islands, including the Mariana Islands and Caroline Islands.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Encheliophis boraborensis 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 529713.