Dr. John Ernest (Jack) Randall (†), Hawaii
Info
According to Upeneus francisi, Parupeneus minys is believed to be one of the smallest sea basses in our oceans.
This demersal fish probes the seafloor using chemical sensory organs and mechanical structures (barbels with tactile and chemoreceptors) and its protruding terminal mouth.
For Parupeneus minys, however, the seafloor must have a specific characteristic: it must consist of coarse, calcareous sand containing rhodoliths (Van der Land 1994, Randall and Heemstra 2009).
This small sea goby is pink on its back and pale pink to white on its belly, with an indistinct pale yellow stripe along the lateral line.
Some lateral line scales show a bluish-white streak, and a bluish-white line surrounding the ventral part of the eye runs diagonally to the upper lip.
Three small bluish-white spots are visible on the back of the head, one directly above the eye.
The barbels are white; the pectoral and pelvic fins are translucent, yellow-spotted with small light blue to whitish spots along the rays, which outline faint transverse yellowish bands.
Parupeneus minys is monitored by the IUCN Red List and classified as “Least Concern,” but there are no photos of living animals or radio reports from previously undocumented areas.
This demersal fish probes the seafloor using chemical sensory organs and mechanical structures (barbels with tactile and chemoreceptors) and its protruding terminal mouth.
For Parupeneus minys, however, the seafloor must have a specific characteristic: it must consist of coarse, calcareous sand containing rhodoliths (Van der Land 1994, Randall and Heemstra 2009).
This small sea goby is pink on its back and pale pink to white on its belly, with an indistinct pale yellow stripe along the lateral line.
Some lateral line scales show a bluish-white streak, and a bluish-white line surrounding the ventral part of the eye runs diagonally to the upper lip.
Three small bluish-white spots are visible on the back of the head, one directly above the eye.
The barbels are white; the pectoral and pelvic fins are translucent, yellow-spotted with small light blue to whitish spots along the rays, which outline faint transverse yellowish bands.
Parupeneus minys is monitored by the IUCN Red List and classified as “Least Concern,” but there are no photos of living animals or radio reports from previously undocumented areas.
