Cornetfishes

The cornetfishes (also known as flutemouths) exhibit an elongated body shape with a whip-like tail, reaching lengths of two meters. They are found in all of the world's tropical oceans, typically inhabiting shallow waters over a huge variety of habitats — coral reefs, seagrasses, macroalgaes, sandy-muddy bottoms and rocky substrates.

Cornetfishes feed on small forage fish, crustaceans, and occasionally molluscs. These fishes are often seen in ‘hunting associations’ with each other or with other species. Cornetfish exhibit cryptic patterning changes in order to sneak up on their prey, changing between dark bars when over complex substrates to lighter stripes when over simpler, homogeneous substrates.

These fishes are occasionally taken in artisanal fisheries, and consumed locally or utilized for fishmeal. For the most part, cornetfishes appear to be relatively unthreatened.

See the species profiles below to get to know trumpetfishes better. 

Fistulariidae (Cornetfishes)

IUCN Red List categories

Click here for a full explanation of IUCN Red List categories. A brief key is provided below.

A note on ‘Data Deficient’ species: Species that are assessed as Data Deficient are deemed to have insufficient information known about them to carry out a proper conservation assessment. Although such species are not assessed as threatened, we may find out that they in fact are, once enough data is obtained.