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Slender Armour Gurnard

Slender Armour Gurnard

Peristedion Liorhynchus

Quick Facts

Scientific namePeristedion Liorhynchus

Other namesArmoured Gurnard, Smoothnose Armoured Gurnard

FamilyArmoured Gurnard / Peristediidae

Distribution

Habitat & AU DistributionDeepsea ocean floor

The Slender Armour Gurnard is a deep-sea fish covered in heavy, bony plates that run the length of its body. It can grow to about 40 cm long.
It lives well below the surface, down between about 140 and 380 metres on the continental shelf and slope. That is deeper than most recreational divers will ever go.
In Australia, it has been recorded off north-western Australia, including south of Scott Reef. Its range stretches across the Indo-West Pacific, from Japan to Indonesia, New Caledonia, the Philippines and Guam.
The body is mostly brownish red, with dark edges on the dorsal fins and bands across the pectoral fins. The colouring may help it blend into the muddy or sandy seabed where it lives.
Like other armour gurnards, it has a pair of free, finger-like rays at the base of its pectoral fins. These are thought to be used to probe the seabed for food.
The Slender Armour Gurnard has a long, pointed snout. The shape helps it push through sediment when searching for prey.
The lower jaw carries small barbels, short whisker-like growths that may help the fish sense food buried in the mud below.
Armour gurnards as a group are known to feed on small animals living on or near the seabed, such as small crustaceans and worms. The Slender Armour Gurnard likely does the same.

Species Interaction

Slender Armour Gurnard: A Rare Deep-Sea Encounter

Research & Rare Encounters
Ecosystem Role

The Slender Armour Gurnard lives in deep waters off Australia’s continental shelf, well beyond the reach of recreational fishers and divers. It turns up occasionally as bycatch in deep-sea trawl fisheries, but it is not targeted commercially and has no profile as a food fish. Most of what is known about the species comes from research trawls and museum collections rather than deliberate study.

Species
Sustainability

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Perciformes
Family: Peristediidae
Genus: Peristedion
Species: Peristedion liorhynchus

Conservation Status

The Slender Armour Gurnard has not been assessed by the IUCN Red List, and it carries no listing under Australia’s EPBC Act. As a deep-water species with limited commercial significance, it falls outside most stock assessments and formal conservation reviews.