Fishes are an amazing water species seen in nearly all types of water across the world. As of now, 32000 species are known to humans. The species comes in different color combinations, shapes, and sizes in different water. We will talk about the amazing fishes with big lips,
Fishes With Big Lips
1. Piranha
Piranha comes in the category of small to medium fishes mostly seen in the rivers of South America, however, there are a few species of piranha also seen in the warm waters of North America. Talking about appearance, piranha has silver bodies along with red patches that help them to camouflage in the muddy waters of the rivers.
There is a perception that the piranha has an insatiable appetite for blood, however, the fish species’ dietary habits are omnivorous in nature. It mostly feeds on snails, fish, aquatic animals and plants, seeds,s and fruit. The average lifespan of a Piranha is 25 years in the wild and in between 10 to 20 years in captivity.
The jaw bone of the Piraha fish is very strong and it is capable of crushing human heads in 5 to 10 seconds. There are local people in many areas who make weapons and other tools with the help of Piranha’s teeth. When meat sources are not available, the fish species eat their own species when other meat sources are not available. A group of piranhas is known as “schools” and it usually consists of around 1000 fish or even more.
Also Read: 10 Different Types of Sharks In The World
Image Source: Phil Whitehouse
2. Pacu
Pacu is a name given to several species of fishes that share several common characteristics like plate-shaped bodies, and fins on their back, stomach, sides, and tail. It is also known as vegetarian piranha’ because it is mostly seen eating plants and has a structure like a human tooth. It is also listed as one of the coolest animals in the world.
It is popular as one of the amazing fishes with big lips and is best known for Piaractus brachypomus also known as red-bellied pacu or pirapitinga. The predators of the fish species are large birds and crocodiles. The average lifespan of pacu fish is 15 years in the wild or 25 years in captivity.
Pacus can grow between sizes of 20 to 80 cm and have an average weight of up to 25 kg. The diet of pacu fish species consists of fruit, seeds, decaying plant matter, grains, snails, and other fish species. Pacus are best known for one species known as red-bellied pacu or pirapitinga that have unique red scales on the ventral surface, or underside, of its body.
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3. Humphead wrasse
Humphead wrasse is a popular coral reef fish that can grow upto 6 feet long. They roam around coral reefs in search of prey such as mollusks, starfish, or crustaceans. They are also popular as a bulge on their forehead and one of the fishes with big lips, however, the species is highly vulnerable because of overfishing in the region and also being served as a luxury food as a part of the live reef fish trade predominant across Southeast Asian region.
Humphead wrasse is very important for coral reef health because it will eat the crown-of-thorn starfish and keep the population in control of the coral reef-damaging fishes.
Also Read: Top 10 Ugliest Fishes In The World
Image Source: Wikipedia
4. Carp Fish
Carp comes in the category of large fishes and are native to the region of central Asia. The species was extensively farmed in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and are a popular angling fish in Europe, however, in the regions of North America, Canada, and Australia it is considered a pest.
These fish species survive in a variety of habitats including highly degraded areas. Talking about their appearance, they are mistaken as goldfish, however, they can be easily identified with the help of barbels (whiskers) at each corner of their mouth and hence popular as one of the fishes with big lips. The avarage lifespan of carp fish is 20 years in the wild.
Also Read: 10 Amazing Land And Water Animals In The World
Image Source: Wikimedia
5. Freshwater angelfish
Freshwater angelfish is one of the most important aquarium fishes that belong to the Cichlid Family. The fish species originated from South America. It generally preys on smaller fish, crustaceans, worms, and larvae. It can grow upto 8 inches in length and its avarage wieght is up to 2 lbs. The avarage lifespan of freshwater angelfish is 30 long years in the wild. The baby freshwater fishes are generally known as fry. The fish species are quite aggressive, especially during the breeding season.
Also Read: 10 Different Types of Fish with Big Foreheads
Image Source: Toshihiro Gamo
6. Marine angelfishes
Marine angelfish are one the popular fishes with big lips that belong to the family of Pomacanthidae. These fish species are mostly seen in the shallow reefs in the water of the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The species is closely related to the butterflyfishes and is known for its bright colors. It can reach upto 6 to 12 inches with an avarage lifespan of between 10 to 12 years in the wild. Marine angelfishes were fiest identified in the year 1758 and approximately 86 species of marine angelfish live in shallow reefs around the world.
Also Read: 10 Different Types of Fish With Legs
Image Source: François Libert
7. Gourami
The Gourami is a popular freshwater labyrinth fish and can be quite aggressive when provoked. As of now, 133 species of gourami are known to humans and the exact number of the species is still unknown. The fish species is native to Asia and seen in the waters of India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Gourami species love to thrive in slow-moving rocky soil along with fresh and shallow water. The avarage lifespan of gourami is around 4 to 8 years in the wild.
The fish species is popular for thier bright colors and unique appearance. Gourami species feed on both plant and animal matter, however, sometimes also feeds on invertebrates or small fishes. The fish used to live on its own and was capable of defending its territory. The species used to communicate using touch and other senses.
Image Source: Wikimedia
8. Humpback red snapper
The Humpback red snapper fish is scientifically known as Lutjanus gibbus which belongs to the family of Lutjanidae. It is also known as the paddletail, paddletail snapper, or hunchback snapper and is widely distributed around the Indo pacific waters and mostly seen in the Red Sea, East Africa, Society Islands, and on the line. The avarage lifespan of the Humpback red snapper is upto 10 years old in the wild. The fish species feed on crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and other invertebrates.
Image Source: Wikimedia
9. Plectorhinchus pica
Plectorhinchus pica also known as painted sweetlips, dotted sweetlips, magpie sweetlips, or spotted sweetlips belong to the subfamily Plectorhinchinae. The fish species is native to coral reefs of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. They are mostly seen in the lagoon and seaward reefs where adults mostly hide inside caves or underneath coral heads. Plectorhinchus pica was first formally described as s Diagramma pica in 1828 by the French zoologist George Cuvier.
Talking about the appearance, they have a dark brown to blackish dorsal fin along with black spots and a central longitudinal grey stripe on the body. It can grow upto a length to 84 cm (33 in) in length and is seen in the waters of the Socotra, Seychelles, the Comoros Islands, Madagascar, and Mauritius east into the Pacific Ocean to the Society Islands.
Also Read: 10 Most Amazing Aquatic Animals In The World
Image Source: WIkimedia
10. Koi Fish
Koi fish is one of the most popular fishes with big lips and also for its beautiful colors that can be created with the help of selective breeding. As of now, 20 species of Koi fish are known to humans that comes in different colors, patterns, and type of scales. Koi is a large fish that can grow upto 3 feet in length and even the size depends on the living conditions.
The species comes in different colors such as white, black, blue, red, cream, and yellow in color. koi fish is popular among Japanese people as a symbol of wealth, prosperity, love, a successful career, and good fortune. The avarage lifespan of Koi fish is between 25 to 30 years in the wild and if they are kept in good condition they can even live more than 100 years.
It is believed that the Koi fish and goldfish have the same ancestor whereas koi fish can be distinguished by barbels on the upper lip. koi fish dietary habits are omnivorous in nature and love to feed on different kinds of fish and their eggs, lettuce, watermelon, and peas. The unique feature of koi fish is that they can recognize the person which feeds them and can be trained accordingly. The predators of koi fish include raccoons, otters, badgers, birds of prey, snakes, cats, and dogs.
Image Source: Bernard Spragg. NZ
11. Red Shoulder Peacock Cichlid
Red Shoulder Peacock Cichlid also known as Aulonocara stuartgranti, hansbaenschi (Chiloelo) is a popular species of peacock cichlid native to the waters of Lake Malawi specifically in th areas of Chiloelo and Mozambique. Talking about their appearance, they have a dark metallic blue color that covers their face including their dorsal fin, anal fin, and tail fin. Both male and female fish species are of different sizes where males can grow upto 6″ in length and females will be a little smaller. Red Shoulder Peacock Cichlid mostly feeds on small bottom-dwelling invertebrates.
Image Source: pinterest
12. Triggerfish
Triggerfish is one of the amazing fishes with big lips family of Balistidae. It can grow upto 8 to 10 inches in length and its avarage wieght is between 3 to 10 lbs. They are mostly solitary fishes with big teeth and only meet during the mating season. The avarage lifespan of Triggerfish is 8 years in the wild and up to 20 years in captivity.
Triggerfish mostly prey on crustaceans, mollusks, small fish, urchins, etc. The predators of the fish species are larger, sharks, and humans. Talking about the appearance, they have a large head that is narrow to small mouths, and the eyes are near the head. These species love to thrive in shallow tropical and subtropical waters across the world.
Triggerfish have powerful jaws and usually feed on hard items such as crustaceans and mollusks. It is commonly seen feeding on sea urchins and other echinoderms. They are popular marine aquarium species and this is the primary cause of the decline in their population.
Image Source: Wikimedia
13. Giant grouper
The Giant grouper are scientifically known as Epinephelus lanceolatus which is a part of the subfamily Epinephelinae and belongs to the family Serranidae. It is also known as the Queensland grouper, brindle grouper, or mottled-brown sea bass distributed around the water of Indo pacific Asia.
Giant grouper loves to thrive in tropical waters and coral reefs and generally preys on small sharks and sea turtles. It can grow upto 96 inches in length and its avarage wieght is around 800 lb. The varage lifespan of fish species is up to 40 years in the wild and can grow upto 8 ft in length.
Giant grouper primarily feed on crustaceans that include lobsters, shrimps, and crabs and also other fish species such as stingrays and parrotfishes along with octopus, and young sea turtles. The fish species were mostly seen in the western Atlantic Ocean from Florida south to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It is also widely present in the eastern Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California to Peru.
Image Source: Wikimedia
14. Flowerhorn cichlid
The flower horn cichlid is also one of the popular aquarium fishes that comes in vivid colors and distinctive head shapes. The avarage lifespan of Flowerhorn cichlid fishes is between 10 to 12 years in the wild. It is one of the popular aquarium fishes that needs a temperature between 80–85 °F and a pH of 7.4–8.0.
The minimum size of the tank should be between 40 to 74 gallons, however, breeding pairs may require a gallon of 150 gallons or more depending on the size of Flowerhorn cichlid fishes. The breeding of the fish dates back to 1993 and the people of countries such as Taiwan and Malaysia called this fish ‘kaloi’ or ‘warships’ because of its appearance.
The first known flowerhorn fish is believed to be originated from breeding various varieties of Cichlids such as blood parrot, red devil, and tri mac cichlid. Flowerhorn fishes are freshwater only and will not be able to survive in a saltwater environment. Flowerhorn is also considered as one of the most intelligent fish species in the world and can easily recognize the face of that the owners.
Image Source: Garry Knight
15. Big-lip damselfish
Big-lip damselfish is also a species of ray-finned fish that belongs to the family Pomacentridae. One of the popular fishes with big lips is seen in the regions of the eastern Indian Ocean and the southwestern Pacific Ocean along with Sri Lanka east to the Solomon Islands and in the northern regions of the Philippines and Australia. It can reach upto a maximum length of 6.0 cm and is seen in the beds of branching corals in shallow lagoon reefs both in single states and in groups as well. The diet of Big-lip damselfish consists of polyps of Acropora corals.
Image Source: Wikimedia
16. Treefish
Treefish scientifically known as Sebastes serriceps is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae. The fish species is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Talking about appearance, they have a robust oblong-shaped body and the head of the species has many spines along with a pointed snout, small eyes, and a medium-sized terminal mouth.
It can reach a length of 41 cm (16 in) and the avarage weight of Treefish is 16 kg (35 lb). The adult treefish has a distinct color pattern and comes with bright red lips, however, the overall color of the fish is yellow with 6 black vertical bars and numerous white dots or dashes distributed along the body. The fish species were mostly seen in the regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean along the western coast of North America from Guerrero Negro in Baja California.
Image Source: Wikimedia
These are the list of 16 amazing fishes with big lips. Kindly share and do post your comments.
