Astrapogon stellatus
Conchfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Apogonidae (Cardinalfishes)
Astrapogon
Astrapogon stellatus (Conchfish)
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
Relatively long snout and very long and black pelvic fins. Jaws, vomer, and palatine have narrow bands of villiform teeth. Preopercular ridge is smooth, and preoperculum is smooth along posterior margin and scalloped along ventral margin. Gill rakers on first arch number 10 to 12 on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 37%–39%, snout length 8%–9%, eye diameter 11%–12%, upper jaw length 21%–22%, pelvic fin length 34%–43%, body depth 33%–37%. Pectoral fin has 14 or 15 rays, first dorsal fin has six slender spines, second dorsal fin has one spine and 9 rays, and anal fin has two spines and 8 rays. Caudal fin is slightly truncate to slightly convex. Scales are cycloid and deciduous. Median predorsal scales are lacking.
Color is brown to black, with head, body, and median fins peppered with minute dark to small dark spots, and dark bars that radiate from eye.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Florida and Bermuda to the Bahamas and Venezuela, including the eastern and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
Habitat Associations
Shallow water
Lives in the mantle cavity of the queen conch (Strombus gigas)
Biology
Feeds nocturnally on shrimps and other small crustaceans
Maximum known size is about 72 mm TL
Males brood the eggs
Prefers clear insular waters of oceanic islands (Ref. 9626). Has a commensal relationship with the conch shell Lobatus gigas (where it is found in the mantle cavity) and with the bivalve Atrina rigida (Ref. 9626). Emerges at night from the conch shell to feed on small crustaceans. Males brood the eggs in their mouths. (Ref. 26938).
IUCN Red List Status: Data Deficient (DD), assessed 2011-03-10. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Böhlke and Randall 1968
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993b
Randall 1996
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Gon 2002a
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.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
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.
Charney, P. (1976) Oral brooding in the cardinalfishes Phaeoptyx conklini and Apogon maculatus from the Bahamas. Copeia 1976(1):198-200.
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