Red Bandfish

• It digs vertical burrows up to a metre deep and spends its life moving in and out of them, almost never far from the entrance.
• Its body, as thin and flexible as a ribbon, tapers to a point, with no distinct tail fin.
• When trawling destroys its burrow fields, the species takes a long time to recolonise the area.
• It digs vertical burrows up to a metre deep, about 49 cm on average, and maintains them at dawn and dusk using its mouth and pushing the mud with its body.
• It rises vertically out of the burrow mouth, head upwards, to catch zooplankton, just as garden eels do, but unlike them it can leave and swim freely.
• It is regular prey for John Dory, and also for common dolphins and the musky octopus.

Habitat & environment

Muddy and sandy-mud bottoms, between 15 and 400 m

Sexual maturity

Length at first maturity 24.2 cm

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cepola_macrophthalma