Vomer fish: description with photo, where it lives, what it eats

This is a marine fish that belongs to the “scad” family. The vomer fish was mainly distributed in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, especially in the eastern part. This is a schooling fish that forms numerous schools, both in the water column and near the bottom.

Vomer fish: description

According to the modern classification of fish species, the vomer fish occupies its definite place in the “scad” family and in the “perch-like” order. As a rule, she is a representative of her distant relatives, the blue neon cannacara, which is also known as a hybrid of cichlids representing the perch-like order.

Interesting to know! The peculiarity of the species is that these representatives of this family can make various sounds, such as grunting, which allows individuals to communicate while in a flock, as well as scare away their enemies.

Dimensions and appearance

Vomers and seleniums are distinguished by a fairly high body, strongly compressed on both sides. The lateral line is almost straight and only curves over the pectoral fin. At the same time, there are no bone shields on the body. The front of the head is quite steep, high and has a bulge. As for the mouth, it is located above the angle, while the lower jaw points upwards. The dorsal fin consists of 8 separate but short spines. The pelvic fins are rather short and not large. The caudal fin is distinguished by the presence of two long but thin stems. The body of vomers is painted in a silvery shade with a bluish or greenish tint, especially in the back area. The fins are grey.

Interesting to know! In juveniles, the first two spines of the dorsal fin have clearly visible filiform processes. As a rule, adults do not have such processes.

Lifestyle, behavior

Seleniums show their activity with the onset of darkness, and in the daytime they hide in their shelters in the near-bottom region. Often their favorite place is the reefs. Vomers are distinguished by the unique structure of their body, which allows them to camouflage themselves in the water column. At certain angles of penetration of sunlight, the fish is able to take on both a translucent and transparent appearance.

Juveniles adhere more to areas where there is more fresh water, therefore they periodically enter the mouths of rivers. Older individuals adhere to the coastline and move only a few hundred meters away from it, while forming numerous flocks. The main condition for the normal functioning of vomers is the presence of a muddy bottom, but, in extreme cases, a slightly sandy bottom is also suitable for them.

The fish mainly relies on the organs of taste and touch, of which it has a sufficient amount. This allows the fish to easily navigate in the water column and find food for themselves.

How long does a vomer live

After being born, the offspring immediately faces all the realities of the underwater world, where only the strongest survive, with an instant reaction. The life expectancy of individual individuals is on the order of 10 years, although many do not live up to this threshold, so they manage to live no more than 7 years.

Vomer: types of fish

Scientists know that the genus of selenium, representing the scad family, consists of 7 main species. In the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, 4 species are common, and the remaining three are found in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, representatives of the Pacific Ocean have a number of differences compared to the species inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean. As a rule, these differences are associated with the presence or absence of scales, as well as the structure of the dorsal fins, especially at a young age.

So, there are such types of selenium:

• Selena Brevoorta lives along the eastern coasts of the Pacific Ocean, from Mexican waters to the waters of Ecuador. Adults grow to a length of almost 40 cm.
• Caribbean moonfish prefers the western waters of the Atlantic Ocean, from the territorial waters of Mexico to the territorial waters of Brazil. Representatives of this species grow up to almost 30 cm.
• African moonfish, prefers to live within the eastern coast of the Atlantic, ranging from the territorial waters of Portugal to the waters of South Africa. It can reach a length of about 40 cm, gaining weight up to one and a half kilograms.
• Selena mexican found in the Pacific waters of the east coast, ranging from the territorial waters of Mexico to the territorial waters of Colombia. Individuals grow up to 30 cm in length, or maybe a little more.
• Selena Peruvian lives in the waters of the eastern Pacific coast, including the coast of California, as well as the waters of Peru. Adults grow up to no less than 40 cm.
• Selena west atlantic distributed along the western coast of the Atlantic, including the waters of Canada and Argentina. There are individuals up to 60 cm long and weighing more than 4 and a half kilograms.
• Selena vulgaris is a representative of the western waters of the Atlantic, including the waters of Canada and the territory of Uruguay. Adults weigh a little more than 2 kilograms with a length of up to half a meter.

Representatives of Atlantic waters have up to 4-6 rays of the dorsal fin, and they are long, and in individuals living in Pacific waters, only the first 2 rays are considered long. In many species, as development proceeds, the process of complete reduction of the rays of the dorsal fin is carried out. In this case, 2 Pacific species are an exception – Mexican selena and Brevoort selena.

Range, habitats

As mentioned above, the range of the selena or vomer is limited to the waters of the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific waters. The waters of the Atlantic are characterized by the distribution of selenium for the tropical zone, as well as the coasts of Central America and West Africa. In Pacific waters, vomers are more common in the tropical waters of America, in the immediate vicinity of the coast of California, including the waters of Peru and Ecuador.

Numerous selenium colonies are observed near the continental shelf, where the “scad” family prefers to adhere to depths of no more than 60 meters. At the same time, they are concentrated closer to the bottom or almost at the surface of the water. This family chooses water areas with a silty or silty-sandy bottom.

It is important to know! Often, numerous flocks of vomers located in the bottom layer mix with flocks of horse mackerel, bumpers or sardinella. As a result, schools of many millions of fish can be observed.

selenium diet

As soon as the sun goes below the horizon, vomers become active and begin to search for food. The diet of selenium, regardless of habitat conditions, includes small fish, as well as various invertebrates that live at the bottom of the reservoir in silt, as well as zooplankton.

Adult individuals only do what they dig in the muddy bottom, while they, with their large numbers, easily dig up the bottom of the reservoir over vast areas. Adults do not refuse shrimp, small fish, worms and crabs, as well as other living creatures of appropriate sizes.

Reproduction and offspring

These representatives of the “scad” family are quite prolific, since they are able to lay up to a million eggs at a time, or even more. After spawning, the eggs are in the water column, being in a free state, since they are not attached to anything. Therefore, it is not surprising that only 20% of them survive, no more. After being born, the fry immediately begin to feed on their own, looking for the smallest components of zooplankton for this.

Vomer’s Natural Enemies

Since this type of fish is not impressive in size, larger predatory fish prey on it. And yet, it is believed that the main enemy of vomers is a person who catches fish in large volumes, despite the fact that selenium populations are restored relatively quickly. The problem is also related to the fact that at the stage of eggs and after the birth of fry, up to 80% of juveniles die.

Fishing value

Representatives of the waters of the Atlantic today are limited for commercial catch, so they can be caught annually in small volumes, totaling about several tens of tons. Marine representatives of this family are very popular among fans of sport fishing. The authorities of Ecuador also quite often impose restrictions on the catch of selenium, and in March 2012 fishing for vomers was banned altogether.

To date, Peruvian selenium is of the greatest commercial interest. It is caught in the territorial waters of Ecuador. Trawls and purse seines are used to catch vomers. Eastern Europe is interested in regular supplies of this fish, which has led to its overfishing.

Representatives of the Pacific waters have dense, but soft meat, quite pleasant to the taste. These species inhabiting the waters of the Pacific Ocean are easily bred in an artificial environment, although such individuals grow in length up to 20 cm no more, without gaining commercial weight. To grow vomers in artificial conditions, it is necessary to maintain the temperature of the water at the right level, and also make sure that the pond has a muddy bottom.

Population and species status

Although vomers have an innate ability to adapt to their environment and quickly repopulate, some countries have bans in place to limit the catch. This is due to the fact that increased rates of catch lead to the appearance of a factor when smaller individuals predominate, and this leads to the inability of fish to restore numbers. Despite this, the fish does not have a conservation status.

What else is interesting about vomer fish

Vomer fish is interesting for some more facts. For example, the vomer fish is also called “moon”-fish, although in Greek the word “Selene” means nothing more than “moon”. At the same time, vomers should not be confused with a real moon-fish, which has a completely different name – “Mola mola”.

The second factor that deserves attention is the ability to disguise. To test how the natural phenomenon works, scientists at the University of Texas studying schooling fish conducted some experiments on one of the types of selenium. To do this, they designed a special device, which was a swivel arm and an underwater camera. When the camera was immersed in water, the fish were filmed at different angles, which corresponded to different lighting conditions. As a result of research, scientists have found that the fish becomes almost invisible when viewed at an angle of 45 degrees. Based on constant experiments, scientists also suggested that predatory fish attack their prey from this angle.

Due to what this happens when the rays are reflected from the body of selenium at such an angle, scientists have not been able to determine. The thing is that this type of selenium does not have scales, so scientists have suggested that the skin contains some microstructures, in the form of hexagonal elongated nanoscopic crystals, which reflect light at a certain angle.

Brevoort selenium was used for the experiments, so there is no reason to assert that other varieties of selenium have the same properties.

There is a myth that the vomer fish is poisonous, but no one has yet provided evidence of this. Based on this, you can safely eat this fish, especially when baked or grilled. Fish is very low in fat and high in protein. Therefore, selenium is the product that is needed for people leading a healthy lifestyle.

In conclusion

If you pay attention to some facts, then the world’s fish stocks are declining at a rather catastrophic pace. First of all, people will suffer from this, if not to limit the catch of fish around the world. To provide humanity with fish, more attention should be paid to artificial breeding.