Ariomma regulus
Spotted Driftfish
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Ariommatidae (Ariommatids)
Ariomma
Ariomma regulus (Spotted Driftfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Deep bodied and compressed, with relatively small eyes, relatively small scales, and a dark peritoneum. Snout is blunt. Anterior naris is porelike, and posterior naris is slitlike. Jaw teeth are conical and slightly recurved. Gill rakers are slender and number 7 on upper limb and 16 on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 32%–34%, snout length 7%–9%, eye length 9%–10%, upper jaw length 8%–10%, pectoral fin length 25%–27%, pelvic fin length 16%–18%, body depth 39%–45%. Pectoral fin has 21 to 23 rays. First dorsal fin is broadly rounded and has 10 or 11 spines, and second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 14 or 15 rays. Anal fin is similar in shape and size to second dorsal fin and has 3 spines and 14 or 15 rays. Scales cover body and extend onto top of head to level of orbit. Vertebrae number 30 to 32.
Juveniles are light colored, with irregular blotches on side. Adults have dark spots, smaller than eye diameter, on upper half of body.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to Guyana, including the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 0-500 m.
Biology
Maximum known size is 230 mm TL.
Adults caught in shrimp grounds and deeper shelf areas, but occurrence is sporadic. Juveniles inhabit offshore surface waters, especially around floating weeds. Adults may be restricted to continental margins of the western Atlantic with juveniles found in the Caribbean expatriated from these populations (Ref. 51183). Feeds mainly on benthic crustaceans. An excellent food fish (Ref. 26938).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous, gonochorous, with pelagic eggs (Ref. 101194).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
McKinney 1961
Haedrich 1967
Haedrich 2002c
Haedrich and Horn 1972
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Shimizu 1983d
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Smith 1997
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Cervigón, F. (1994) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 3. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 295 p.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
Comments On Ariomma regulus