Dusky batfish
Platax pinnatus
Atlantic Spadefish
Chaetodipterus faber
About
The Atlantic spadefish is a silver, disc-shaped fish that can grow past 90 cm, often seen drifting in large schools over wrecks and reefs along the western Atlantic coast.
Also known as: ocena cobbler, white angel, jackass, white angelfish, spadefish, moonfish, atlantic spade, threebanded sheephead, sea donkey, ocean cobbler, tripletail, threetailed porgy, butterfly fish, angelfish, pot cover, leather coat, paoua
- Length
- 50.4 cm · max 91 cm
- Weight
- max 9 kg
- Depth
- up to 35 m
How to tell it apart
Its long trailing dorsal and anal fins give it an angelfish-like shape, but the spadefish is marked with bold black bars, one running straight through the eye, that angelfish lack.
Appearance
Its body is very deep and flattened side to side, almost circular, with a blunt snout and a small mouth. It is silver with four to six bold black bands running down each side, one through the eye and one through the base of the tail; these bands fade as the fish ages. The second dorsal and anal fins trail into long points, giving it an angelfish-like outline.
Habitat
It lives in shallow coastal water, from mangroves and sandy beaches to harbours and wrecks, down to about 35 m. Its range runs along the western Atlantic, from the southeastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico through the Caribbean to Brazil. Adults often gather in large schools.
Did you know?
Young spadefish swim tilted on their side near the surface, drifting like dead leaves or floating mangrove pods, a trick that helps them go unnoticed by predators.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
