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NOTE
Juveniles of the Bluespotted
Trevally, Caranx bucculentus (Teleostei: Carangidae),
schooling with venomous catfishes (Plotosidae): a
new case of mimicry
William F. Smith-Vaniz, Anna
DeLoach & Ned DeLoach
NOTE this article has been corrected in a clarification later in the issue, see
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (2018) Juveniles of the Torpedo Scad, Megalaspis cordyla (Teleostei: Carangidae), schooling with venomous catfishes (Plotosidae): a new case of mimicry and an identification correction.
Introduction
The Striped Catfish, Plotosus lineatus (Thunberg),
occurs from east Africa and the Red Sea to Samoa and
feeds primarily on crustaceans and occasionally mollusks
and small fishes. These catfish have venomous dorsal
and pectoral-fin spines and their stab wounds are
extremely painful (Randall 2005a, Bergbauer et
al. 2009). The juveniles frequently swarm over
the bottom and form compact ball-like schools, which
provide additional protection by confusing predators.
The juveniles seem to know they are safe, as
they make little effort to move when disturbed;
(Bergbauer et al. 2009). In 2006, at Lembeh
Strait, Indonesia, juvenile trevallies (Carangidae)
were first observed schooling with Striped Catfish,
but the photographic images were too small to allow
positive identification of the trevally species. On
6 April 2011, at a different site in Lembeh Strait,
the same behavior was successfully documented with
video (archived and available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1345288).
The juvenile trevallies are the Bluespotted Trevally,
Caranx bucculentus Alleyne & Macleay, a
piscivorous Indo-West Pacific species known from Australia
to Japan. This species differs from its congeners
most obviously in having the straight part of the
lateral line with enlarged scutes that extend anteriorly
to below the first dorsal fin, combined with a very
short, strongly arched, curved lateral line (Smith-Vaniz
1999). The prominent stripes of the trevally juveniles
(Fig. 1) have not been observed previously in the
species, clearly indicating alteration of the typical
color pattern to more closely match that of the Striped
Catfish.
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CITATION:
Smith-Vaniz, W.F., DeLoach,
A. & DeLoach, N. (2018) Juveniles of the Bluespotted
Trevally, Caranx bucculentus (Teleostei: Carangidae),
schooling with venomous catfishes (Plotosidae): a
new case of mimicry. Journal of the Ocean Science
Foundation, 30, 82-84.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1345326
publication date: 20 August
2018
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