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Lives in empty tube-worm snail shells, often extending the head from the opening. Feeds by joining loose groups of look-alike rainbow wrasse and darting out to nip at nearby fish, taking mucus and perhaps small bits of flesh (Ref. 5227). The skin of larger fishes is the mainstay of the diet, although they are also known to eat eggs (Ref. 28023). Piscivore (Ref. 57615).
The specialized jaws and teeth allow its bizarre mode of feeding. They attack other fishes, some many times their own size, by tearing off pieces of dermal tissue, scales, or mucus. This aggressive lttle fish attacks the posterior surface of larger fish that pass overhead. Hiding in vacant tubes of marine worms, they dart out to nip skin mucous from passing fish, retreating to the same hole and backing into it (Ref. 28023). Scale-eating behavior was suggested to originate from opportunistic foraging another fishes (Ref. 28733). |