RED GURNARD Favorite To Eat

ANIMAL SPECIES:
Red Gurnard, Chelidonichthys kumu (Cuvier, 1829)

The Red Gurnard has brightly coloured pectoral fins that are used for display or startling potential predators.

Standard Common Name
Red Gurnard

Identification
The Red Gurnard has a bony head and a blunt snout that lacks spines. The body is covered with tiny cycloid scales. A row of enlarged scales forming thorn-like bucklers is present along the bases of both dorsal fins.

The species is red-brown to grey-brown above and pale below. The body has scattered red-brown blotches. The pectoral fins are greenish-grey with light blue spots. The margin is pale blue and there is a black blotch with white dots near the base.

Size range
The Red Gurnard grows to 50 cm in length.

Distribution
The species is known from temperate marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific.

In Australia it occurs from southern Queensland, around the south of the country and north to the central coast of Western Australia.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Chelidonichthys kumu

Distribution by collection data
Ozcam map of Red Gurnard specimens in the Australian Museums.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Habitat
It is known from shallow sandy beaches and estuaries (as juveniles) down to a depth of around 200 m.

It is most often encountered in trawler catches but is sometimes caught on hook and line.

Other behaviours and adaptations
It is believed that the fish will flair its brightly coloured pectoral fins as a display or to startle potential predators.

Classification
Species:kumuGenus:ChelidonichthysFamily:TriglidaeOrder:ScorpaeniformesClass:ActinopterygiiSubphylum:VertebrataPhylum:ChordataKingdom:Animalia