#priacanthiformes

This is a proposed order that may eventually be absorbed into Perciformes, but for now, we’re treating it separately. The two families bear very little similarities to each other, but have been shown to be sister taxa in repeated molecular analyses. Yay fish taxonomy.

The unusually large eyes of the Bigeyes (family Priacanthidae) are suited to their carnivorous, nocturnal lifestyles

The largest Priacanthid is the Longfinned Bullseye (Cookeolus japonicus) (image 1) which can reach up to 69 cm (2.5 ft) long and weigh up to 5 kg (11 lb), though it’s more often around 30 cm (1 ft).

Juvenile Atlantic Bigeye (Priacanthus arenatus) sometimes stray as far North as Nova Scotia in Canada due to the Gulf Stream, though they can’t stay there for long as they have no adaptations for the cold water. Atlantic Bigeye reportedly have a foul odor when caught, reminiscent of “rotting garbage.”

Some species of bigeye, such as the Paeony Bulleye (Priacanthus blochii) and Lunar-tailed Bigeye (Priacanthus hamrur) (image 2), can quickly change colour as their mood changes (see gif above). Colors vary from orange, to entirely red, to entirely silver, to silver with red stripes.

Traditional Hawaiian culture holds that the appearance of large schools of red fish, often ‘Āweoweo (Priacanthus meeki) or their juvenile form, known in Hawaii as Alalaua, foretells the imminent death of an ali’i or member of the Hawaiian royal family. Great numbers of Hawaiian Bigeye were reported in bays and harbors across the Islands in the months leading up to the death of Queen Lili’uokalani on November 11, 1917.

Popeye Catalufa (Pristigenys serrula) have been reported making sounds to communicate with each other.

Bandfishes (family Cepolidae) (images 3 and 4) dig burrows in sandy or muddy substrate, sticking their heads out or fully leaving to feed on zooplankton in the water column. Unlike the visually similar but unrelated garden eels, they are not fixed in their burrows, and can move around both inside their burrows and outside.

The oldest recipe by a named author involves the preparation of a Red Bandfish (Cepola macrophthalma). The original recipe book, by the 5th century BC cook Mithaecus, is now lost, but the recipe itself survives thanks to being quoted in the Deipnosophistae (200 AD). The directions simply included “gut, discard the head, rinse, slice; add cheese and (olive) oil”. The addition of cheese seems to have been a controversial matter, as Archestratus is quoted as warning his readers that Syracusan cooks spoil good fish by adding cheese.