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Although these amazing fish are not found in the Atlantic Ocean, shrimp fish are widely distributed throughout the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean as far as Hawaii. The widely distributed tropical species, Aeoliscus strigatus, displays a wine red top, dark yellow underparts, a black longitudinal band and three silver spots on either side of the bony place. Most of the Aeoliscus species are found in schools amid the spines of the long spined sea urchin. The Aeoliscus punctulatus which is found around the eastern coast of Africa is a pink fish with a green back, yellow underside and black spots.
The body of the shrimp fish is transparent, elongated and covered with a fused transparent armored plate. These fish tend to have have greatly compressed bodies, a rounded back and a severely tapered belly. All shrimp fish have a bony armor that has individual plates with a jagged edge and the adults form a long, powerful spine that extends from the trunk. The tail region of these fish is so dramatically arched downward that then end of the body is formed by the dorsal fin instead of the caudal fin. They have a long tubular snout that terminates in a small mouth opening which appears similar to the beak of a snipe and has no teeth. These fish swim horizontally only when they are hunting. At other times they can be seen swimming vertically with their heads down, although they are also capable of swimming with their head up. When they fight or their territory is breached by an opponent, shrimp fish will point the sharp edge of their belly toward their adversary. While some member of the genus Centricus have a long, stiff spine, members of the Aeoliscus from the same family have a moveable spine.
Distributed throughout the western Indo-Pacific tropical oceans, the Centriscus scutatus is a yellow shrimp fish with a red underside. It has a dark longitudinal band on each side of its head that runs from the head to the second dorsal fin. The juveniles of this species will sometimes have a silver stripe or silver spots. Shrimp fish are also known as razor fish. There are four species of these tiny, tropical marine fish all from the order Gasterosteiformes. The name razor fish was derived from the characteristically sharp edged underside. While some shrimp fish are about 5 1\2 inches in length others of the species grow to be as large as thirty centimeters in length. The Centriscus cristatus, which is in contrast to the Centriscus scutatus, is from the western Australia area. This shrimp fish makes its home over sandy bottoms and sports a silvery body with a red longitudinal band. At the temples there is a golden spot and the pale yellow rear body rings are intersected by close to ten red bands.
The mating of shrimp fish takes place after the male has found a suitable site and dug the nest which is usually made up of plant materials. These are held together with a sticky substance secreted from the kidneys. Once the nest is built the female begins her display which involves a behavior that directs the male to herd one or more females to the nest where the eggs are laid. The male is stimulated by the eggs and fertilizes them directly in the nest. Strangely with these and other gasterosteiformes, if the male is removed from the nest area the female will not lay any eggs.
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