Bathygobius mystacium
Island Frillfin
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gobiidae (Gobies)
Bathygobius
Bathygobius mystacium (Island Frillfin)
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
Free upper pectoral fin rays; relatively short upper jaw; fully scaled body; mouth terminal; upper jaw extends to about center of eye; lower jaw slightly included in upper jaw; upper lip with free dorsal margin; jaw teeth in a narrow band with outermost teeth enlarged; tongue rounded; gill opening extends ventrally to pectoral fin base; head length 28%–30.6% SL; snout length 6.8%–8.4% SL; eye diameter 6.6%–8.2% SL; upper jaw length 7.9%–11.4% SL; pre-dorsal-fin length 34.8%–37.6% SL; pelvic fin length 18.8%–24.2% SL; caudal fin length 20.3%–29% SL; body depth 19.2%–22.1% SL; pectoral fin rays 19 or 20 with upper 4 or 5 rays distally free of membranes and filamentous; first dorsal fin with six spines; second dorsal fin with one spine and 8 or 9 rays; pelvic fins united by membrane to form disc; anal fin with one spine and 7 or 8 rays; body completely scaled except for side of head; single sensory pores between eyes, behind eyes, and medial to anterior naris; scales in lateral series 33 to 36 (usually 35); vertebrae 27 (10 precaudal and 17 caudal)
Tan to light brown with dark brown blotches forming irregular bars or a checkerboard pattern on flanks; white specks often occur on scales
Distribution
Western Atlantic from southern Florida and the Bahamas to Central America, including the Greater and Lesser Antilles
Campeche Bay and Veracruz in the southern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Shallow water; associated with sandy to rocky bottoms exposed to wave action
Biology
Maximum known size is 150 mm TL
Inhabits rocky tide pools and along water's edge, but mostly on unsheltered shores.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2010-03-01. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Robins and Ray 1986
Smith 1997
Murdy and Hoese 2002b
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.
Tornabene, L., C. Baldwin, L.A. Weigt and F. Pezold (2010) Exploring the diversity of western Atlantic Bathygobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae) with cytochrome c oxidase-I, with descriptions of two new species. aqua, Int. J. Ichthyol. 16(4):141-170.
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