Identification
The snipefish is a small, deep-bodied fish of 10 to 18 cm with a remarkably long, tubular snout ending in a tiny mouth. Body strongly laterally compressed, pink to silvery-red. The second dorsal spine is very long and thick.
Ecology
Lives in schools in open water above the seabed at 50 to 600 meters depth. Uses its tubular snout to suck up small crustaceans and plankton.
In the Netherlands
Rare in Dutch waters. Occasional records when warm southwestern currents carry the species into the North Sea.
