Relevant synonyms None Misidentification None Meristic formula D, 14-16; A, 14-15; P, 15-16; V, 6  drawing : Tuvia Kurz

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body extremely elongated and depressed. Very long head with tubular snout. Two serrated ridges along the snout. Small oblique mouth. Lower jaw slightly protruding. Small teeth. Interorbital space concave and smooth. Dorsal and anal fin triangular, opposite each other, located posteriorly. Caudal fin forked with the two middle rays extremely elongated and filamented. A row of narrow bony plates along dorsal midline in front of the dorsal and anal fins. The posterior part of the lateral line has a series of backward-pointing spines. color : head, back and flank reddish-brown. size : common 30-100 cm (max. 200 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Fistularia commersonii: smooth dorsal midline, without bony plates; no backward pointing spines on the posterior part of the lateral line. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Lives in moderate depths, usually deeper than 10 m, above soft substrate. Feeds on fish and shrimps. habitat : above the continental shelf over soft substrate.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Alboran Sea, Southern Spain, 1997. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Eastern Atlantic from Angola to Senegal and Cape Verde Islands, Indo-west Pacific to Hawaii. Mediterranean : only a single record off La Linea de la Conception (Province of Cadiz), Alboran Sea, gill net at 50 m (Cárdenas et al., 1997). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Very rare. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via Gibraltar. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Càrdenas S., Berastegui and Ortiz, J.M., 1997. First record of Fistularia petimba Lacepède, 1803 (Pisces, Fistularidae) off the coast of Cadíz (southern Iberian Peninsula). Boletín del Instituto Español de Oceanografia, 13: 83-86. Fritzche R.A., 1976. A review of the cornetfishes, genus Fistularia (Fistularidae), with a discussion of intrageneric relationship and zoogeography. Bulletin of Marine Science, 26: 196-204. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: April 2002 ©ciesm 2002