Another Novel Feeding Mode in the Labridae: Juvenile Tuskfish Fan Sand With Vigorous Single Pectoral Fin Swipes
Ebner, Brendan C., and Morgan, David L. (2025) Another Novel Feeding Mode in the Labridae: Juvenile Tuskfish Fan Sand With Vigorous Single Pectoral Fin Swipes. Marine Ecology, 46 (4). e70034.
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Abstract
Fishes exhibit a range of feeding modes and strategies to forage in and on sand habitat. Here, we describe a novel feeding mode, whereby small juvenile baldchin groper, Choerodon rubescens (⁓65–100 mm TL), vigorously forward sweeps the benthos with a single pectoral fin to reveal small benthic prey and visually scans the immediate benthos on the swept side of the body. The behaviour was not exhibited by larger conspecifics (140–180 mm TL) presumably because they had progressed to larger and hard-shelled benthic prey and/or perhaps because the small juveniles foraged more or less continuously to obtain enough very small prey. These records confirm yet another mode of prey capture in the evolution of the highly variable feeding repertoire of the Labridae.
| Item ID: | 87910 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1439-0485 |
| Keywords: | feeding mode, fin digging, ontogenetic shift, pectoral fin, seagrass habitat |
| Copyright Information: | © 2025 The Author(s). Marine Ecology published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Mar 2026 04:34 |
| FoR Codes: | 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180504 Marine biodiversity @ 100% |
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