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Marines
...
P.ventralis
, female.Thespeciesgrowsto8cmlong.
Pseudanthiasbimaculatus
lives in the IndianOceanandgrows toaround15cm long.Thephoto showsamale.
All photos:FrankSchäfer
heanthiasor fancybasses (Anthiinae)
areagroupofrelativelysmall fishesthat
areusuallybreathtaking intheircoloration.At
presentsome22generawithatotalofalmost
250speciesarerecognized. Allspecies live in
the sea.But their closest relativesare in fact
thegroupers (Epinephelinae),whose largest
representativecanmeasureagood3m long
andweighmore than400kg.Togetherwith
thegroupersand theSerraninae theanthias
makeupthe familySerranidae.
Shoaling fishes
Notonlydoanthiasdifferconsiderably inap-
T
Thanks tocomparativeanatomywenowadaysknowa fair amount about
phylogenetic relationships in theanimal kingdom.Someof it isconfusing.
Whowould thinkonseeingaRockHyrax,ananimal that looks likeaplump
marmot, that theywere lookingat avery close relativeof theelephants?
There is a similar hugedifferencebetween the anthias and their closest
relativesaswell.
Anthias
byLevinLocke
Female
P.bimaculatus.
Pseudanthiasventralis
,male,and...
pearance from their larger cousins,but their
behavior isalsocompletelydifferent.Specifi-
cally, thegroupersarevery intolerantof one
anotherandsolitary,andcanbeaccustomed
tooneanother intheaquariumonlywitha lot
ofeffortandmuchpatience,whileanthiason
theotherhandareshoalingfishesthatshould
alwaysbekept ingroups ifpossible.Theywill
thendisplay theirentirebehavioral spectrum
aswellasthe full splendorof theircoloration.
Protogynoushermaphrodites
Buttheanthiasandthegroupersdohaveone
thing incommon:theystart lifeasfemalesand
