Sea chubs are members of the Kyphosidae family. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Most of them inhabit shallow seas near to shore. Members of the family have moderately deep oval body, short head, blunt terminal mouth and small rough scales. They have a continuous long-based dorsal fin with 9-16 spines and 11-28 soft rays, a concave to forked tail, and pelvic fins arising behind the pectoral-fin base.
Sea chubs consist of both herbivorous, feeding mainly on algae and carnivorous, feeding on benthic invertebrates.
There are 14 genera and about 55 species of Kyphosidae worldwide. Malaysia has only one genus and about 3 species.
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Scientific Name: Kyphosus cinerascens (Forsskål, 1775) English Name: Blue Sea Chub Mandarin Name: 白毛 (Bái máo) Local Malay Name: Beras-beras, Aklat Karang, Beras Biru Main Diagnostic Features: Soft portion of dorsal and anal fin elongated anteriorly, resulting in near vertical rear margin. Size: Maximum total length 50 cm; commonly to 40 cm.  |