Foxface species

[kreach]

I've noticed in various pictures of members' foxfaces that some have a black spot on their side and some don't... was just curious about what the difference was.
Ours is the spotless kind...

 

[007]

try looking at your fish at night . . . . :thinking:

 

[kreach]

Oh, I've seen him color shift at night and turn all mottled black... that's not what I'm talking about.
Here's the other type of foxface that I have seen. I'm guessing it's maybe just a difference in region in which the fish was collected, but I was just curious...

 

[007]

perhaps the opposite gender . . . . ?

 

[kreach]

Google.com is a wonderful thing.
The one without a spot is just a common Foxface (Siganus vulpinus) while the one with the spot is called a Blotched Foxface (Siganus unimaculatus)... different species. :yes:

 

[bang guy]

I believe they are the same species. I had thought the one with the Spot is from the Red Sea and the one without was from the Coral Sea. I know they reside in other places too but I don't know how that relates to the spot.

 

[stupid_naso]

When I visited the Shark Reef exhibit in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, I learned that the spot that's near the tail area, e.g. the one on the foxface, are used to confuse predators. Predators will think that this is their prey's eyes while the actual eyes are concealed with the black lining in front. So yeah, that's just a little interesting fact that I learned. I don't know why some have it some don't. But it's just a little interesting fact.