Fish of the Carapus genus of the subfamily Carapinae of the Carapidae family of the Ophidiiformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Pearl fish. Photo by © Alessandro Pagano. fishbase.org)
Pearl fish (Carapus acus) was first described in 1768 by the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich (1737-1827).
It inhabits the depths of 1-150 meters. The maximum recorded length is 20.8 cm. This unusual fish has found a home in the intestines of shallow sea cucumbers without harming its “host”. It leaves its shelter at night and chases small fish and benthic invertebrates.
(Pearl fish. Photo by © Sven Wuertz. fishbase.org)
It’s a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of pearl fish (Carapus acus) in other languages as follows:
Peshku bishthollë (Albanian), Rubioca (Spanish), Galiotto (Italian), Eingeweidefisch (German), Karap europejski (Polish), Средиземноморский карапус (Sredizemnomorskiy Karapus) (Russian), Strmorinac trbušasti, Strmorinac trbušan (Serbian, Croatian), Strmorinec (Slovenian), İnci balığı (Turkish), Fieraster (French).