Name: Georgia Aquarium
Address: 225 Baker St NW, Atlanta, GA, 30313, US
Telephone: +1 404-581-4000

An adult orbicular batfish may be solitary or can occasionally be found in large schools.

Size
27.5 inches (70 cm)
Diet
Algae and a variety of invertebrates
Range
Indo-Pacific
Habitat
Coastal lagoons out to seaward reefs and occasionally in deeper water offshore

Physical Characteristics

Adults grow to approximately 27.5 inches (70 cm) in length.
The body is rounded and strongly compressed.
Adults have a bony hump on their foreheads and their dorsal and anal fins are high and arched but in proportion to their bodies.
Juveniles look very different from adults. They have very short bodies with extremely tall dorsal and anal fins and do not have a forehead hump.
Coloration is yellowish silver or dusky in color and have a short dark vertical bar through the eye and another wider bar behind the operculum.

Animal Fact
Juvenile orbicular batfish will mimic leaves for protection.

Diet / Feeding

Feeds on algae and a variety of invertebrates, such as jellies or other plankton.

Occur in the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and East Africa to Papua New Guinea, as well as near the Ryukyu Islands and Australia.
Juveniles inhabit seagrass meadows, mangrove areas and floating sargassum weed beds in shallow protected inner reefs.
Adults are usually found from coastal lagoons out to seaward reefs and occasionally in deeper waters offshore.
Longfin batfish are found most often at depths of 65 feet (20 m).
Commonly encountered near a deep wreck, mainly in the mid-waters above it.

Oviparous (egg-laying species)
It is believed that this batfish spawns in the open ocean and its larvae transform into juveniles when they are less than an inch (2.5 cm) long.

Adult may be solitary or occasionally form large schools.
Juveniles have been observed mimicking floating leaves in coastal waters. They also will form schools under floating rafts of sargassum.
It is believed that this batfish spawns in the open ocean and its larvae transform into juveniles when they are less than an inch (2.5 cm) long.