Bellator brachychir
Shortfin Searobin
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Triglidae (Searobins)
Bellator
Bellator brachychir (Shortfin Searobin)
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
Head is relatively large and moderately broad, snout is of moderate length. Rostral projection is broad and triangular shaped with several anteriorly directed spines. Preopercular spine lacks supplemental spine. Opercular spine extends beyond cleithral spine. Gill rakers on first arch number 1 to 3 on upper limb and 12 to 17 on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 37%–45%, snout length 12%–15%, upper jaw length 14%–20%, orbit diameter 12%–15%, interorbital width 3%–6%, length of joined pectoral fin 23%–36%, length of first free pectoral fin ray 31%–41%, body depth 26%–32%. Joined pectoral fin rays number 12. First dorsal fin has 10 or 11 spines, with first 3 or 4 strongly serrated, and second dorsal fin has 11 rays, with first serrated at base. Anal fin rays number 10 or 11. Body is covered with small ctenoid scales. Nape is scaled, and breast and usually anterior section of belly are naked.
Color is brown on upper half of body and white on lower half. Spinous dorsal fin is brown, with black spot between fourth and fifth spines. Pectoral fin is dusky and has large black spot between third and fifth fin rays.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to Uruguay, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Antilles.
In the Gulf of Mexico it has been captured off the western coast of Florida and in the Bay of Campeche.
Habitat Associations
Occurs between 27 and 366 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 160 mm SL
Found from bays and estuaries to the mid-shelf.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-22. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Ginsburg 1950
Cervigón 1966
Cervigón 1991
Lewis and Yerger 1976
Robins and Ray 1986
Miller and Richards 1991a
Smith 1997
Richards and Miller 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.
Figueiredo, J.L., A.P.D. Santos, N. Yamaguti, R.A. Bernardes and C.L. Del Bianco Rossi-Wongtschowski (2002) Peixes da zona econômica exclusiva da Região Sudeste-Sul do Brasil: Levantamento com Rede de Meia-Água. São-Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo; Imprensa Oficial do Estado, 242 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.
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