Paratrachichthys trailli

Sandpaper fish
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Beryciformes
Family:	Trachichthyidae
Genus:	Paratrachichthys
Species:	P. trailli
Binomial name
Paratrachichthys trailli (Hutton, 1875)

The sandpaper fish or common roughy, Paratrachichthys trailli, is a slimehead belonging to the family Trachichthyidae, found in southern Australia and southern New Zealand at depths of between 50 and 400 m. Its length is between 10 and 25 cm.

The sandpaper fish is a deep-bodied, laterally compressed fish with a large head that bears a conspicuous pattern of bony ridges and spines. The eyes are large and the mouth is almost vertical. The small scales are rough to the touch giving rise to its common name. Along the belly there is a row of enlarged scales forming a serrated ridge between the pelvic and anal fins, and, unusually, the anus is positioned between the pelvic fins (instead of before the anal fin).

Colouration is crimson-brown body, tinged with silver on the sides, and red-pink fins.

Sandpaper fish generally hide during daylight hours in caves and large crevices emerging at night to feed on the larger planktonic animals such as crustaceans and worms.

References

• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Paratrachichthys trailli". FishBase. March 2006 version.
• Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8