Photo by Pierre Niehaus
Koester Acanthistius sebastoides After Peter and Guido saw a juvenile at Percy's, close to Rooi Els, recently (see the News section, 26 November), it is nice to see this adult photographed near Gans Bay. While this species is known to range throughout southern Africa, it is not seen often by divers in waters near Cape Town.
The fish is a member of the rockcods (family Serranidae). The eyes, having that egg-shape, with the narrow apex at the front, is something most rockcods have, and it can thus be easily distinguised from other fish in the Cape, as most of them have perfectly round eyes.
References:
Smiths' Sea Fishes, MM Smith and PC Heemstra, 1986.
Two Oceans, A guide to the marine life of Southern Africa, GM Branch, CL Griffiths, ML Branch and LE Beckley, 1994.
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