Appearance and lifestyle:
The seventy-four (Polysteganus undulosus) is a beautiful fish, with a pinkish head and belly, silver-yellow body and four to six iridescent blue stripes running horizontally across its sides. On each side, above its pectoral fin, is a conspicuous black spot.
Habitat:
Commonly found in the Southeastern coast of Southern Africa from Cape point to the mouth of the Limpopo River.
Diet:
It is primarily a piscivore, feeding on smaller fish such as sardines and mullet, but will also eat squid and crustaceans if available. Juvenile seventy-fours feed exclusively on tiny invertebrates.
Threats:
Due to overfishing in the 1960s, the seventy-four now faces extinction in the wild. Thanks to a total ban on fishing, and proper management of its ecosystem, its numbers are slowly recovering.
The seventy-four is Critically Endangered, the most severe rating on the IUCN Red List. It is also Red on the WWF-SASSI List.