JOHN DORY

John Dory (Zeus faber)
Zeus faber belongs to the family Zeidae, order Zeiformes, class Actinopterygii and phylum Chordata.
The name probably originates from the French Jaune Dorée, meaning Gilded Yellow. It is also known as St Peter's Fish in many languages and a related legend says that the dark spot on the fish's flank is St. Peter's thumbprint. In Germany it is also known as Heringskönig, meaning King of the Herrings since fishermen used to catch it in nets together with schools of herring.
The John Dory’s large eyes at the front of the head provide it with bifocal vision and depth perception, which are important for predators. The John Dory eats a variety of fish, especially schooling fish such as sardines. Occasionally it eats squid and cuttlefish, catching prey by stalking it, confusing it by the eye spot on the side of its body, then shooting out a tube from its big mouth to scoop it. The John Dory grows to a maximum size of 65 cm and 3 kg in weight living near the seabed in depths from 5 metres to 360 metres. They are normally solitary.
The john dory on this video was seen on the 27th December 2014 at Mgarr ix-Xini on Gozo’s south coast at a depth of 14m.

Video taken by Brian Azzopardi