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Issued on: 14 Jul, 2006
To acquaint ROC citizens with the island's abundant marine life and to draw attention to its coral reefs, Chunghwa Post is issuing another set of four postage stamps on "Taiwan Coral-Reef Fish," featuring the Clown anemonefish, Moorish idol, Yellowtail coris and Longnose hawkfish. The stamps have been planned by Dr. Kwang-tsao Shao of the Academia Sinica and created by marine biology painter Jheng Yi-lang. Two stamps will have denominations of NT$5, and the other two will have denominations of NT$12.
The designs of the stamps follow:
(1)
Amphiprion ocellaris (NT$5): It is commonly known as the
Clown anemonefish, because the white markings on its orange body make it look like an adorable clown. It is a very popular saltwater aquarium fish.
(2)
Zanclus cornutus (NT$5): Commonly known as the
Moorish idol, it is a typical coral reef fish. Its brilliant coloring is similar to that of the longfin bannerfish of the Chaetodontidae (butterflyfish) family, but its body is similar to that of the freshwater angelfish. Its body is covered with black and white stripes, with three broad black bars around the eyes, the pectoral fin and the caudal peduncle. It looks very elegant when it swims and sells well in pet stores that stock tropical fish.
(3)
Coris gaimard (NT$12): It is commonly known as the
Yellowtail coris. The juvenile of this species has orange or bright red coloration, with five distinctive white saddles rimmed in black along its top from snout to tail. It is nicknamed "red dragon" and is a hot seller in pet stores in Taiwan that stock tropical fish. After it grows to four to five centimeters long, its white saddles gradually fade and its body turns from orange-red to olive and becomes bluer near its tail, where its caudal fin turns bright yellow.
(4)
Oxycirrhites typus (NT$12): Commonly known as the
Longnose hawkfish, it looks distinctly different from other Cirrhitidae. Its habits are quite different too. It lives only in sea fans of deeper water coral reefs. Its body is bright red and easily camouflaged by the red sea fans. Because of its slender snout and its bright red grid-like coloration, it is also called the "pointy snout grid fish" in Chinese.
為使國人了解臺灣豐富多樣的海洋生物，並關心珊瑚礁環境，本公司續以中央研究院邵廣昭博士規劃之「眼斑海葵魚」、「角鐮魚」、「蓋馬氏盔魚」、「尖吻魚翁」為主題，發行臺灣珊瑚礁魚類郵票（95年版）1組4枚，面值分別為新台幣5元及12元各2枚。
茲將郵票圖案簡介如下：
（1）
眼斑海葵魚（面值5元）：俗稱
小丑魚，橙紅體色上的白斑圖案有如小丑裝扮，令人憐愛，是海水觀賞魚類中頗受歡迎的魚種。
（2）
角鐮魚（面值5元）：常見的典型珊瑚礁魚，炫麗的體色和蝴蝶魚科之白吻雙帶立旗鯛很像，又稱「
角蝶魚」；體型又像淡水觀賞魚之「神仙魚」。體色黑白相間，眼部及胸鰭基部及尾柄部前方各有一條很寬的黑色橫帶。泳姿高雅，頗受水族業者歡迎。
（3）
蓋馬氏盔魚（面值12元）：幼魚體色橙紅或鮮紅，背上從吻端到尾柄有5塊鑲黑邊的白色鞍狀斑塊，非常顯眼，又稱「
紅龍」，相當受水族業的歡迎；成長到4－5公分後，白斑逐漸黯淡消失，體色由橙紅轉為棕欖綠，愈往尾部愈呈藍色，尾鰭也變成鮮黃色。
（4）
尖吻魚翁(面值12元）：外型與其他魚翁科魚類不同，習性特殊，只棲息在較深水域珊瑚礁的海扇（角珊瑚）上面，體色艷紅和海扇一致而有隱藏的作用。細長的吻部和身上艷紅方格圖案，又稱為「
尖吻格魚」。
Reference:
Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd
