Rendahl's messmate | |
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Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Ophidiiformes |
Family: | Carapidae |
Genus: | Echiodon |
Species: | E. rendahli
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Binomial name | |
Echiodon rendahli | |
Synonyms[2] | |
Carapus rendahli Whitley, 1941 |
Rendahl's messmate (Echiodon rendahli) is a pearlfish of the family Carapidae, found in the southwest Pacific Ocean around Australia and New Zealand at depths to 60 metres (200 ft).[3] Its length is between 10 and 12 centimetres (3.9 and 4.7 in).The larvae has a long filament on its head which bears some resemblance to a siphonophore. These fish live within sponges.[4] The specific name honours the Swedish naturalist and artist Hialmar Rendahl who collected the specimens in the Tasman Sea which were used by Gilbert Percy Whitley to describe this species.[5]