Trumpetfishes

The trumpetfishes, as their name suggests, exhibit an elongated body shape with a horn-shaped mouth, and can reach lengths close to a meter. They are found in all of the world's tropical oceans, typically inhabiting shallow, clear waters over coral reefs, seagrasses, and rocky bottoms — though some especially adventurous individuals have been found in caves at depths over 200 meters.

Trumpetfishes feed on small forage fish and crustaceans, and exhibit a huge variety of hunting tactics. These fish are often seen slowly drifting or hanging vertically in the water with their head down, mimicking seagrass or coral in order to ambush their prey. They have also been observed hiding behind large herbivorous fish, or large schools of herbivorous fish, blending in with them and striking at other prey.

These fishes are occasionally taken incidentally in artisanal fisheries, and consumed locally. For the most part they appear to be relatively unthreatened, although coral loss may be having an impact on some populations.

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

Aulostomidae (Trumpetfishes)

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.