Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta

Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, July 2015. Length: 36 cm (14 inches). Most unusual barring, perhaps a juvenile.

Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, August 2016. Length: 58 cm (23 inches). Note the absence if a tail filament.

Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta. Fish caught out from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, December 2012. Length: 60 cm (2 feet 0 inches). Fish identification courtesy of Dr. Richard Rosenblatt and H.J. Walker, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.

Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta. Fish caught from coastal waters off  Los Barriles, Baja California Sur, March 2020. Length: 86 cm (2 feet 10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chip Shapley, Los Barriles.

Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta. Fish caught from coastal waters off Yelepa, Bahia de Banderas, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, December 2020. Catch and photograph courtesy of Greg Pilkington, High Spirited Adventures, Puerto Vallarta.

Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta, Caudal Fin Element (above) versus Reef Cornetfish, Fistularia commersonii, Caudal Fin Element (below).  Amazingly similar!

The Deepwater Cornetfish, Fistularia corneta, is a member of the Cornetfish or Fistulariidae Family, that is known in Mexico as corneta flautera. Globally, there are thirteen species in the genus Fistularia, of which four are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.

The Deepwater Cornetfish has an extremely elongated, depressed body with a very long tubular snout and a short oblique terminal mouth equipped with minute teeth. They are a uniform orange-brown color with a lighter colored underside. However, smaller fish my be barred. They have a very slender snout and a slender jaw, and the distance between the eyes is large. Their anal and dorsal fin bases are orange and their anal, caudal, and dorsal fins are pinkish. Their caudal filament is dark. Their anal and dorsal fins are sickle-shaped and found at the rear of the body directly opposite each other. Their anal fin has 16 to 19 anal rays; their caudal fin is forked with a long central filament, which in some fish is non-existent; their dorsal fin has 17 to 20 rays; and, their pelvic fins are well behind their pectoral fins. The lateral line is arched over the first half of the body and continues into the tail filament.

The Deepwater Cornetfish is a demersal species that is found over soft and hard bottoms including estuaries at depths up to 50 m (165 feet). They have a maximum of 1.28 m (4 feet 2 inches) in length. The Deepwater Cornetfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Deepwater Cornetifish is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The Deepwater Cornetfish can be confused with the Reef Cornetfish, Fistularia commersonii (larger snout, tan-brown coloration with blue spots, long white caudal filament).

From a conservation perspective the Deepwater Cornetfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. This species is a visual phenomenon and a true exotic, however is of limited interest to most and considered a “catch and release.”