Bahamas Longspine Squirrelfish

Beautiful fish dive in and out of coral reefs, their colors surreal and outstanding. There's nothing quite like seeing fish in their natural environment. Bahamas Snorkel Tours provide just that chance - a closeup of some the unexplored deeps and a taste of its secrets, including the longspine squirrelfish.

What Does It Look Like?

There are roughly 150 species of squirrelfish. The longspine squirrelfish is silvery red and has orange-gold stripes that run the length of its body. The fish can grow to over a foot long. It also has very large eyes. Its fins, including its large real dorsal fin, which sticks straight up and has 11 dorsal spines, are very recognizable. Each of the dorsal spines has a small triangular patch of white at its tip. It also has an anal fin with four anal spines.

It's a very thin fish and the young are also thin, but more silvery than the adults, so they're rarely ever seen.

Habitat

Even though this brightly-colored fish is nocturnal, it lives in coral reefs where it's rocky and the temperature is warm, so it's possible to see one during Bahamas Snorkel Tours. They can be hard to spot simply swimming because they're rare in the shallow areas, but as the water gets deeper, it's easier to spot them because they're more frequent.

They're found along the East coast of the United States and down south through Brazil, in the West Indies and Bermuda. They're most common off the coast of Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

What Do They Eat?

At night, when they're most active, they emerge from the depths to descend upon the shallower areas, where it's sandy and grassy and they can catch their food. They feed on shrimp, crabs and various gastropods.

Are They Important to Humans?

Although they're marketed fresh and a study in 1980 showed that they're edible, they're not very important to humans. The people in the study reported that they're less flaky than other fish and that they have only an average taste. However, they do live for a long time after they're caught and are often put in aquariums because of their bright colors.

Unique Facts

Although they are unlikely to attack humans, they do protect their rocky homes, the little caves in the crevices of the coral reef, admirably. They're very territorial.

In order to protect their homes, they've been known to actually vocalize using a grunt that they use to defend their territory and high-pitched staccato sounds. The human equivalent of a fire alarm, this sends other longspine squirrelfish into their crevices before they come back out to figure out what's going on. Together, they use this tactic to scare away some of their predators. These sounds can even be heard by human divers.

Swimming among the fish is a unique experience that should be incredibly memorable. Make sure to keep those memories fresh with an underwater camera.