Alert pigfish

Taxobox
name = Alert Pigfish


image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Scorpaeniformes
familia = Congiopodidae
genus = "Alertichthys"
species = "A. blacki"
binomial = "Alertichthys blacki"
binomial_authority = Moreland, 1960

The alert pigfish, "Alertichthys blacki", is a pigfish, the only species in the genus "Alertichthys", found around New Zealand at depths between 100 and 600 m. It is between 15 and 20 cm in length.

The alert pigfish is an elongate deepwater species with a pointed snout and crest-like dorsal fin, and covered in small scales.

Its colouration is pale grey or white with dark grey markings that extend on to the fins. They feed on crabs, worms, and other invertebrates which it finds by using its long snout to probe into crevices.

References

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* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8