One of the most iconic species in the Two Oceans Aquarium’s I&J Ocean Exhibit and amongst the most commented-on fish is the black musselcracker, scientifically known as the Cymatoceps nasutus, which literally translates to ‘swollen bumpy nose’.
‘Look at its big nose!’, ‘It looks so grumpy!’ and ‘It looks like an old man!’ are some of the comments that get thrown around when visitors see the black musselcracker.
Where does its funny name come from?
The name black musselcracker derives from the fish’s ability to crush open the shells of some hard-bodied animals such as mussels, urchins, and crustaceans using its specially adapted mouth and powerful jaws.
Its round nose forms because of all the extra muscles attached to its jaw, and using its fleshy lips, it manipulates and repositions prey for perfect chewing power.
This fish has 10 cone-shaped teeth that help it crack open the armour of prey, and two rows of molars to help break things up even further.
This slow-growing fish reaches its sexual maturity at around 10 years of age and can live up to 45 years, and reach 1.1m in size.
Did you know?
All black musselcrackers start off their lives as females, with green and white blotches. They start to change and take on their characteristic black and grey colours as they approach maturity.
Then by the age of 18, the largest females transition into males and claim territorial feeding grounds up to 80m deep, between Cape Agulhas and St Lucia.
This fish has been listed as ‘vulnerable and declining’ on the IUCN Red List and as orange or ‘Think Twice’ by the WWF SASSI.
Picture: Flickr
