Find a Fish
Crested Bandfish
Lophotus lacepedei Giorna, 1809
Crested Bandfish - whole body.
Dear Mark,
I am attaching a couple of photos of the 1-metre-plus Crested Bandfish we picked up on Seven Mile Beach (Shoalhaven district, New South Wales) one morning a couple of weeks ago. We came across it lying on the sand, left by the receding tide; it was in pretty good condition except for a series of gouges above the eye made by birds before we happened upon it.
Crested Bandfish - closer view of the head.
The species was as if chrome-plated when we found it, an almost mirror finish which I unfortunately damaged in carrying it some distance along the beach, trying to keep it away from my body as it leaked 'ink' out of its back end. Underwater I guess it must be virtually invisible in profile due to the mirror finish, and it certainly presents a very narrow profile viewed from above or below.
We couldn't find it in any of our fish books, however over the telephone you put your finger on it almost immediately!
All the best,
David & Carolyn Colfelt
The Crested Bandfish is a member of the fish family Lophotidae.
It is widely recorded from all oceans. In Australia it has been recorded from scattered locations off New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.
View a map of the collecting localities of Lophotus specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Little is known of the biology of the species. It most likely lives in deep waters. As David and Carolyn mentioned in their letter, the species has an internal ink sac which stores a dark, inky liquid which may be used as a defence mechanism against predators.
The shiny, silver colouration is an adaptation used by many different kinds of fishes. One theory suggests that the mirror-like surface reflects light from above and makes the fish less visible to predators.
View the Crested Bandfish fact sheet.
Further reading
- Glover, J.C.M. in Gomon, M.F, J.C.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Olney, J.E. in Paxton, J.R. & W.N. Eschmeyer (Eds). 1994. Encyclopedia of Fishes. Sydney: New South Wales University Press; San Diego: Academic Press [1995]. Pp. 240.
