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What features give snipefishes the alternative name bellows fish?
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gasterosteiform
Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus).
Snipefishes (family Centriscidae) are commonly called "bellows fish" due to their physical resemblance to a hand-driven bellows.
This comparison is based on the following anatomical features:
- Nozzle: The fish's long, narrow, tubular snout serves as the nozzle of the bellows.
- Handles: The fish's tail and the longest spine of its erect dorsal fin appear to form the handles of the device.
These small, deep-bodied fishes are members of the order Gasterosteiformes and are often found in deeper tropical and subtropical waters.1