Fowler's Pearlfish, Onuxodon fowleri (Smith 1955)
Fowler's Pearlfish, Onuxodon fowleri, at Bali, Indonesia. Source: John E. Randall / FishBase. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial
Fowler's Pearlfish, Onuxodon fowleri (Smith 1955)
More Info
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Distribution |
South-west of Broome, Western Australia, to Sydney, New South Wales; also the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species is widespread in the Indo-West-central Pacific: from South Africa and Madagascar, east to the Hawaiian Islands, including the Kermadec Islands of New Zealand, New Caledonia, the Marquesas and Pitcairn Islands. Individuals are nocturnal, usually sheltering in pearl oysters and other bivalves during the day, and foraging at night. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin 43-50; Anal fin 46-51; Vertebrae 90; Precaudal vertebrae 19-22; . Body eel-like, slender to moderate in depth, trunk compressed; 1 to several large symphyseal fangs on premaxilla and dentary; anterior swim bladder modified into 'rockerbone'; predorsal bone present; pectoral fin rays supported by numerous small distal radials. |
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Feeding |
Feeds on crustaceans, polychaete worms and bivalve molluscs. |
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Biology |
The species is commensal with various bivalve species (Pteria sp. and Avicula sp.), living between the mantle and the shell. Individuals have rarely also been found within holothurians. |
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Etymology |
The species is named in honour of American ichthyologist Henry Fowler, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who originally misidentified this species as Jordanicus caninus (= Carapus dubius) in 1927. |
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Species Citation |
Jordanicus fowleri Smith, 1955, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 12 8(90): 403 [based on Jordanicus caninus of Fowler, H.W. 1927]. Type locality: Lectotype - Kiritimati (as Christmas Island), Line Islands. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2026 |
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Resources |
Fowler's Pearlfish, Onuxodon fowleri (Smith 1955)
References
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann. M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Amaoka K. & Yoseda Y. 2005. Two species of pearl fi shes, Onuxodon parvibrachium & O. fowleri (Ophidiiformes, Carapidae) from the honeycomb oyster (Hyotissa hyotis), from Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture. Bulletin of the Biogeographical Society of Japan 60: 5-12.
Francis, M.P., 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, Southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170.
Ho, H. & Sithole, Y. 2020. Onuxodon fowleri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T135445065A137454771. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T135445065A137454771.en. Accessed on 06 February 2026.
Kéver, L., Colleye, O., Lugli, M., Lecchini, D., Lerouvreur, F., Herrel, A. & Parmentier, E. 2014. Sound production in Onuxodon fowleri (Carapidae) and its amplification by the host shell. J. Exp. Biol. 217: 4283-4294. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/217/24/4269.1
Markle D.F. & Olney J.E. 1990. Systematics of the Pearlfi sh (Pisces: Carapidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 47: 269-410.
Nielsen J.G., Cohen D.M., Markle D.F. & Robins C.R. 1999. FAO species catalogue. Volume 18. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis, 125. FAO, Rome.
Parmentier, E. 2015. Family Carapidae, pp. 702-712, in Roberts, C.D., Stewart, A.L. & Struthers, C.D. The Fishes of New Zealand. Wellington : Te Papa Press Vol. 3 pp. 577-1152.
Parmentier, E., G. Castillo, M. Chardon & P. Vandewalle. 2000. Phylogenetic analysis of the pearlfish tribe Carapini (Pisces: Carapidae). Acta Zool. 81:293-306.
Parmentier E., Castro-Aguirre J.L. & Vandewalle P. 2000. Morphological comparison of the buccal apparatus in two bivalve commensal Teleostei: Encheliophis dubius and Onuxodon fowleri (Carapidae, Ophidiiformes). Zoomorphology 120: 29-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s004359900020
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.
Smith, J.L.B. 1955. The fishes of the family Carapidae in the western Indian Ocean. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 12 8(90): 401-416 figs 1-8
