Reef Aquarium Species Codexery

Foxface rabbitfish

A venomous, color-changing rabbitfish from Indo-Pacific reefs.

Last updated

Its vivid yellow body has a white head and front part, with a black band running from the mouth through the eye to the start of the dorsal fin.[1][2] This species can quickly change color to dark brown when threatened.[1] The foxface rabbitfish is venomous and typically grows to 20 cm, with a maximum recorded total length of 25 cm.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderAcanthuriformes
  6. FamilySiganidae
  7. GenusSiganus
  8. SpeciesSiganus vulpinus

Named by (Schlegel & S. Müller, 1845)

Close relatives

Other species of Siganus with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Foxface rabbitfish (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 273929 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2016

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

Where the foxface rabbitfish has been recorded

Where the foxface rabbitfish has been recorded157 mapped locations from 3,658 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Gilbert Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Timor Sea, Queensland, Capricorn and Bunker GroupGilbert IslandsAshmore and Cartier IslandsTimor SeaQueenslandCapricorn and Bunker Group

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (3,658 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 18 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 1 isolated far-off record not drawn.

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Scientific name
Siganus vulpinus
Family
Siganidae
Diet
Omnivorous, mostly algae and zooplankton

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

The foxface rabbitfish occurs from the far eastern Indian Ocean to the western Pacific, including Indonesia, Taiwan, New Caledonia, and Australia.[3] The species is omnivorous, eating mostly algae and zooplankton.[4] Within Australia, this species occurs on northern reefs, at Ashmore Reef, and along the east coast from the northern Great Barrier Reef down to the Capricorn Group in Queensland.[5] This fish lives in lagoons and on seaward reefs that have abundant coral growth, and it is frequently seen in pairs among staghorn corals.[5]

Younger individuals, both juveniles and subadults, sometimes gather in large groups within Acropora corals to consume algae.[5] Adult foxface rabbitfish are usually encountered alone or in pairs, and they stay near branching Acropora corals.[4] Venom glands are located in the fin spines.[1] Research on a related species showed that the venom of rabbitfish resembles that of stonefish.[6]

What the specialist sources record

The Fishes of Australia account states that the Foxface Rabbitfish differs from the similar Blackbloth Spotface in lacking a dark spot or irregular blotch on the side.[5] The Liveaquaria guide describes the Foxface Lo as a peaceful species except when housed with other rabbitfish.[7] Rabbitfish are generally reef-safe if well fed.[7] The Liveaquaria guide lists the diet as consisting of fresh vegetables and undesirable algae species.[7]

The GBIF database accepts the species as Siganus vulpinus (Schlegel & Müller, 1845) and holds 3,900 occurrence records.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Foxface rabbitfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Foxface rabbitfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dianne J. Bray, "Siganus vulpinus", Fishes of Australia (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Foxface rabbitfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Siganus vulpinus", 2016; Dianne J. Bray, "Siganus vulpinus", Fishes of Australia; "Siganus vulpinus", 2016; Dianne J. Bray, "Siganus vulpinus", Fishes of Australia (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Foxface rabbitfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lougher, "What Fish?: A Buyer's Guide to Marine Fish", Interpet Publishing, 2006, p. 118 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Dianne J. Bray, "Siganus vulpinus", Fishes of Australia. facts only, no text reused. fishesofaustralia.net.au
  6. Wikipedia, "Foxface rabbitfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Dianne J. Bray, "Siganus vulpinus", Fishes of Australia; "Occurrence of a stonefish toxin-like toxin in the venom of the rabbitfish Siganus fuscescens", Toxicon, 2017, p. 139–146 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. "Foxface lo", Liveaquaria. facts only, no text reused. liveaquaria.com
  8. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Siganus vulpinus (taxon key 2390172). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Foxface rabbitfish (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Siganidae

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Elsewhere in Reef Aquarium Species

Ocellaris clownfish · Clownfish & DamselfishFlame hawkfish · Other Reef FishPajama cardinalfish · Other Reef FishEmerald crab · Shrimp, Crabs & UrchinsAcropora millepora · Stony CoralsBluestreak cleaner wrasse · Wrasses

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. Who first scientifically described the foxface rabbitfish?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Hermann Schlegel.

From the source: “The foxface rabbitfish was first formally described as Amphacanthus vulpinus in 1845 by the German zoologists Hermann Schlegel & Salomon Müller with the type locality given as Ternate Island one of the Molucca Islands in Indonesia.”

2. To which genus does the foxface rabbitfish belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Siganus.

From the source: “The foxface rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus), also known as the foxface, black-face rabbit fish, badger fish or the common foxface is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a rabbitfish belonging to the family Siganidae.”

3. To which biological family does the foxface rabbitfish belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Siganidae.

From the source: “The foxface rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus), also known as the foxface, black-face rabbit fish, badger fish or the common foxface is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a rabbitfish belonging to the family Siganidae.”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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