Old wife

Biology

The old wife is the only member of this family, being easy to recognise by the typical zebra pattern of the adult individuals. It lives in coastal reefs but while young, or even adult in the mating season, hides in marine grass prairies and estuaries. It has poisonous dorsal thorns whose stings are extremely painful. To nourish itself, it "filters" large quantities of sand, feeding on small crustaceans and zooplankton that it finds in the sand it stirs.

Curiosities

The old wife owes its name to the fact that, when captured, it grinds its teeth, making sounds like (supposedly) those of an old woman.