Tool use in the tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii?

Jane Goodall describes tool use as the use of an external object as a functional extension of mouth or hand in the attainment of an immediate goal (van Lawick-Goodall 1970). Tool use is oftenobserved in a foraging context in a wide range of species, and complex feeding behaviors are not uncommon among marinefishes. For instance, wrasses crunch sea urchins against corals and use anvils to smash food into more manageable pieces(Pas´ko 2010, reviewed in Brown et al. 2006). In spite of the anecdotal evidence for the use of tools in marine fishes, there arefew documented cases, particularly those based on observations in the wild. Here, we present evidence of a black spot tuskfish,Choerodon schoenleinii, Valenciennes, 1839 using a rock as an anvil to open a cockleshell that conforms to Goodall’s definition of tool use