Australia is home to several unique plant and animal species found nowhere else, and the creatures inhabiting its oceans are no exception. Meet the Pineapplefish, one of the more unique fishes you will come across while scuba diving along the waters off coastal Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia. Named owing to its stunning resemblance to a pineapple, this fish is also known as the knightfish or the coat-of-mail fish due to the armor-like scales covering its body.
Pineapplefish grow up to 22 cm (8.7 in) long and are covered by several rough scales that are yellow and edged in black, adding to their pineapple-like appearance. Found exclusively in parts of Australia, Scuba Divers have typically spotted this fish at around 5-20m and are commonly found inhabiting rocky reefs and estuaries.
Attributes of the Pineapplefish
The most unique physical characteristic of the Pineapplefish, apart from its uncanny resemblance to a Pineapplefish, possesses two tiny light or bioluminescent organs on either side of the lower jaw that produce a greenish or reddish glow. These organs, known as photophores, are light-emitting organs that appear as luminous spots on various marine animals and are used to attract prey to the fish’s mouth to feed on.
This unusual feature has also given the Pineapplefish another name to be known by since its light organs resemble navigation lights on ships: the port-and-starboard light fish. The light in the photopore is produced by bioluminescent bacteria, which emit a green glow when the fish is young and then become reddish as the fish ages. Being a nocturnal fish, the Pineapplefish uses its photophores to lure in its favorite prey, small shrimp, to its mouth at night, which is a valuable feature because these fish have small fins and are not very good swimmers.
Pineapplefish are often found in small caves and under ledges where they aggregate in small groups. Divers have found certain groups of pineapplefish inhabiting the same ledge for several years, often up to 7 years. There are several locations along the New South Wales coast that divers can visit, and they regularly find Pineapplefish hanging out in the same area, making searching for these unique fish by underwater photographers and scuba divers relatively easy.
