Jawfish是一群真正的异想天开的动物，为任何礁石坦克增添了真正独特的尺寸。该家族在很大程度上由属中的物种代表Opistognathus, though other more obscure and less populous genera likeLonchopisthus和Stalixdo occasionally offer a breath of fresh air. Despite their unique biology and behaviour, jawfish are not extensively revised and the family is riddled with undescribed and unknown species. Today’s feature offers a look at a babyOpistognathus目前，他的身份使我们不知所措。由于其尺寸较小和不完整的生长，因此很难评估这是否仍然是未描述的物种，还是仅仅是已知个体的少年形式。
Opistognathusis the primary and largest genus with a wide range of characteristics and sizes spread out amongst the species. Some grow too large for aquariums but a good handful of them remain small and colorful enough for captivity. As their name suggests, Jawfish are well known for their large gaping mouths which they use very extensively for day to day living. Jawfish of all species live exclusively in sandy or rubble dominated substrates, in cylindrical, often vertical tunnels which they excavate using their large mouths. They do this by repeatedly siphoning and spitting out unwanted substrate, and are even able to move large pieces of rubble to stabilise their burrow’s integrity.
Another interesting application of their large mouths is seen in this family’s uncanny ability to mouth brood. Jawfish, like cardinal fish, are capable of holding eggs in their mouths until they are ready for release. The large volume capacity of their mouths allow them to do this pretty well, while at the same time being safely ensconced in their burrow. When confronted or faced by an intruder, jawfish often display passive aggression by opening their mouths to the fullest extent as a defence mechanism.
来自日本上面的这个人似乎是未知的少年Opistognathus属或一个尚未描述的物种。在当前阶段，它与Opistognathus sp。6，下巴颚鱼。后者相当粗壮，并不像其他物种那样突出，但确实具有与该物种相似的颜色。来自日本的少年是地面颜色的砖红色，装饰着一系列雪花，如白色标记和背鳍的第一部分。但是，再次，我们必须非常清楚地表明，由于该标本仍然是婴儿，随着它的增长，颜色可能会改变，并且现在与相关物种的任何分类都是高度衍生的。
上面的尺寸比较显示了这个小巧的个体的地位，旁边放置了16mm硬币以进行并置。我们收到了标记为身份不明的标本Stalix, however it is very unusual for aStalixspecies to possess such ornamental patterning and coloration.Stalixare usually concolorous or irregularly blotched, although a definitive key would be to check for apical branching in their dorsal spines which is unique to this genera. However this feature serves as an impossible diagnosis without the use of a microscope.
乔·罗列特（Joe RowlettOpistognathus dendriticus. The blotched markings of the baby fish does somewhat bear resemblance to this species, but identification may be better assessed as the fish grows and develop more concrete adult markings. However if it does turn out to beO. dendriticus，然后我们这里拥有的小标本只是小小的少年，因为该物种能够达到28厘米的长度。不用说，这使它们处于适合性频谱的另一端。
截至目前，婴儿很可爱，已经开始挖掘洞穴。即使他们是O. dendriticus, it is very unlikely that they will attain maximum size anytime soon, or at all in captivity.
