Juvenile batfish hidden in seagrass

Abstract

Juvenile batfishes in the genus Platax (Ephippidae) are known to have striking coloration that is considered to be protective Juvenile Indo-Pacific P. teira and P. orbicularis have broad dark and silver vertical bands. This coloration contrasts sharply with blue waters and resembles, at least to the human eye, floating debris or seaweed, cages, mooring lines, shipwrecks, and aspects of other habitats where they typically occur. We found Platax teira (longfin batfish) consistently occurring in a shallow bed of the seagrass Enhalus acoroides on Barrang Lompo, one of the many Spermonde islands off South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their color banding provides virtually no contrast against the seagrass. Seagrass might provide very good habitat for juvenile batfish, although we have found no published reports of juvenile batfishes in seagrass beds. Juvenile batfishes are both herbivorous and carnivorous Herbivory by juvenile batfish hidden in seagrass might help reduce deleterious epiphytes that bloom on seagrasses in the face of coastal eutrophication (Fig.

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