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Chelidonichthys kumu
Brown-grey colour with pectoral fins that are lined with a blue edge and have a black eyespot with white spots.
Found swimming along the rocks lining the Walvis Bay lagoon in Namibia - a shallow, brackish wetland.
Can't find any notes on the fish being sighted in Namibia before (water too cold?) Also called Pacific red gurnard. Often confused with the Cape gurnard, Chelidonichthys capensis, but: the Cape gurnard has a wide margin of blue, with big blue blotches, while the bluefin gurnard only has a few blue spots in a dark "eye-spot" on the pectoral fins. Source: https://www.surg.co.za/home/html/news/ne...
Spotted on Feb 15, 2020
Submitted on Feb 16, 2020
6 Comments
Yeah no.. I didn't disagree with your suggested ID at all.
Just amazed especially to find another on IN. Interesting stuff for sure.
Welcome, once again.
Great to see people get involved!
SukanyaDatta, thanks - I fixed the habitat and won't upload photos that aren't mine.
Mark Ridgway, if you read the surg.co.za site carefully, it explains the difference clearly, which is why I believe this to be a bluefin gurnard (being no expert on this at all). Similarly, the spotting on inaturalist you referred to seems to be a bluefin gurnard after all. If you zoom in, you can clearly see the eye spot and thin blue line around the fins described on SURG.
Maybe somebody emptied their saltwater tank a few years ago 😉
Fascinating creature. Great spot!
Species shouldn't be there should it.
Chelidonichthys capensis is more likely from known ranges and I see others have had problems with this too... https://www.surg.co.za/home/html/news/ne... and on INaturalist... https://www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Hello lcallard21 ,
Welcome to Project Noah. This is a site dedicated to wildlife; so you can share photos that you have taken of wildlife and engage with the PN community. Please do not take photos from the Internet or from others without permission.
You have a very interesting first spotting. Where did YOU spot it....that should go in the habitat box (not general information about where it is found/range.)
Enjoy the site. Keep posting. Have fun. See you around.