Cleidopus gloriamaris: Pineapplefish/knightfish
This pretty unique yellow and black scaled fish is a member of the family Monocentridae. It is a hardy and long-lived aquarium specimen. It is fully armoured with spines; the yellow scales are bony plates and the backward rays on the fins have sharp spikes. The Latin name for the pineapple fish means, glory of the sea.
They are solitary, but you can sometimes find them in small schools. The pineapplefish is native to Australia, Queensland and New South Wales in reefs, rocky overhangs and inside caves. They prefer the warm waters of the Indian Ocean at a depth from 20-200 meters where there is a constant supply of live food.
These fish grow up to 24cm, are weak swimmers and nocturnal predators. They feed at night on shrimps and other small invertebrate species.
The pineapplefish produce light from its organs, these bioluminescent bacteria are kept in two pouches around its mouth to lure its prey. They can control these bacteria, by either turning the light off, use an orange colour to camouflage during the day and a green-blue at night to attract its prey.
