Larval whalefish at Apo Island

  • Author(s)
    Mark McGrouther
  • Category
    Science
  • Published
    29 February 2012
  • Read time
    2 minutes

It is exceedingly rare to see a juvenile whalefish (a tapetail) in shallow water.

<i>Parataeniophorus brevis </i>
Tapetail postlarval stage of cetomimid whalefish
Tapetail postlarval stage of cetomimid whalefish

From YouTube: "Flora Teng and Bill Durbin saw this unusual fish at only 20 feet (7 m) on the morning of March 26, 2011 while diving at Rock Point West, Apo Island, Philippines."

The 'hidden identity' of the tapetails was revealed in 2008 in the ground-breaking paper of Johnson and colleagues.