Bony fish · Perciformes · Ephippidae

Atlantic Spadefish

Chaetodipterus faber

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The Atlantic spadefish — known in Spanish as paguara, paguala del Atlántico or paguala común — is a ray-finned marine fish of the family Ephippidae. It is the symbol of the North Carolina Aquariums.

Size

30 cm – 91 cm

Lifespan

10 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanOmnivore Diurnal Colonial Fish Ocean

40countries 12parks 98dive sites

Fun facts

The juveniles are black and float on their side at the surface close inshore, mimicking a dead leaf carried on the current with astonishing accuracy.
The adults form schools of hundreds that circle slowly above wrecks, a classic sight of Caribbean diving.
Juveniles mimic a dead leaf: they are black, they let the current carry them along on their side in shallow water, and so they pass unnoticed among floating plant debris.
Adults, by contrast, are silvery with dark vertical bands and form dense schools around wrecks and structures.
Its body is almost circular and strongly compressed, with the dorsal and anal fins drawn out into points, which gives it the disc-like silhouette behind its name.
It feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates, jellyfish and small crustaceans, and it has been seen picking parasites off other fish.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (fish)
Habitat & environment: Reefs, wrecks, mangroves and estuaries of the western Atlantic

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