This young fisherman is showing a 'pati' (Chanos chanos) caught in his nets. This slender smooth bodied fish has large eyes covered with a transparent adipose tissue. Its distribution is limited to the continental shelves and island lagoons of tropical and subtropical regions where the water temperatures exceed 68°F (20°C). It feeds on a wide variety of relatively soft and small organisms : zooplankton, epiphytes, microbial mats, detritus which thrive in the warm and closed waters of the lagoon of Niau.