Vardhan Patankar
Vardhan Patankar
( Platax boersii )
The golden spadefish can be found in depths of 1-50m usually associated with coral reefs.
Growing up to a maximum length of 40cm, they have a rounded head with their mouth located right below the bump on their eye instead of being slighly in front of the eye like most fish. In regards to their colour, they are pale yellow with light vertical bars across the body.
You are most likely to find them in large schools swimming along coral reefs and feeding on small invertebrates like crabs, shrimp and molluscs.
Joydeep Sarkar
Joydeep Sarkar
( Platax orbicularis )
You can find them in depths between 5-30m in small groups or alone.
The thin and disc shaped orbicular batfish is sometimes confused with the golden spadefish because of their similiar appearance, the main difference is that these fish are a bit more rounder. Growing up to a maximum length of 50cm, they are silvery yellow in colour with a dark band through their eye, a band behind their head and a third band at the base of their tail. Their fins are coloured yellow and black and their tail is more taller than it is longer.
Their diet consists of mainly feeding on small invertebrates, algae and small fishes.
Vardhan Patankar
Joydeep Sarkar
( Platax pinnatus )
You can find them in depths between 5-30m in small groups or alone.
The longfin batfish is silvery-grey in colour with some yellow and a vertical dark band through the eye and another on their side fins. Their fins are elongated and they have a snout that protrudes out. As juveniles, they look almost entirely different from their adult form, as they are coloured completely black with an orange margin or outline along the entire body.
Their diet consists of feeding on various small invertebrates , algae and fish.
Phalguni Ranjan
( Siganus puelloides )
You can find them at depths between 1-20 m in coral reef lagoons and outer reefs.
The blackeye rabbitfish can grow up to a maximum length of 31 cm. They have a yellow background colour with small blue spots all over the body. The distincitve feature of this species, is their black patch on their eye after which they are named. This species have a small mouth with a shape that is adapted to scrape of algae and sponges from rocks and you are most likely to see them swim in pairs. Furthemore, they do have spines in their fins that are poisonous and can cause hurtful wounds!
Their diet mainly consists of sponges, algae and tunicates.
Vardhan Patankar
Phalguni Ranjan
( Siganus guttatus )
They are usually found at depths between 2-35 m at areas where the sea meets the land such as mangroves, seagrass beds and river mouths. Also found at inshore reefs as well.
The orange-spotted rabbitfish can reach a maximum length of about 42 cm. The background colour of the fish is a bluish colour above and a silvery below. They have a large yellow-orange spot where the tail meets the rest of the body, the rest of the body is covered in orange-brown spots of varying sizes. They are always found in small schools or groups of about 10 to 15. They have the abilty to withstand low salinity and are hence able to move at the interface of high and low salinity areas.
They mainly feed on algae and hence are commonly found in areas where algae are likely to grow.