Bothus ocellatus
Eyed Flounder
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Bothidae (Lefteye Flounders)
Bothus
Bothus ocellatus (Eyed Flounder)
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.)
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Characters
Very deep bodied, with small mouth, widely separated eyes; mouth downturned, upper jaw extending posteriorly to or slightly beyond anterior margin of lower eye; jaw teeth small and sharp pointed, arranged in two rows; males with spine at tip of snout and bony protuberance above lower eye; distance between eyes about equal to eye diameter in adult females, greater than eye diameter in adult males, and less than eye diameter in juveniles; upper eye with fleshy ridge along posterodorsal margin, lower eye anterior to upper eye with fleshy ridge along posteroventral margin; gill rakers on first arch of ocular side short, 0-6 on upper limb and 7-10 on lower limb; measurements (% SL): head length 24%-26%, snout length 5%-6%, eye diameter 5%-6%, upper jaw length 6%-7%, ocular-side pectoral fin length 16%-25%, body depth 61%-67%; pectoral fin on ocular side with 8-10 rays, longer than blind-side fin; uppermost ocular-side pectoral fin rays elongated in mature males; dorsal fin with 76-91 rays; base of ocular-side pelvic fin extends to tip of urohyal; anal fin originates anterior to pectoral fin base with 58-68 rays; caudal fin bluntly pointed; scales ctenoid on ocular side, cycloid on blind side; lateral line arched over pectoral fin on ocular side with 70-78 scales; precaudal vertebrae 10, caudal vertebrae 25-27
Pale brown to gray on ocular side with dark mottling or spotting; caudal fin often with two vertically arranged dark spots on base above and below median rays
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Long Island and Bermuda to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including the eastern and southern Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and the Antilles
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Soft bottoms between 18 and 91 m
Soft bottoms
Biology
Polychaetes and crustaceans
160 mm SL
Inhabits sandy areas with coral rubble or seagrasses, usually near patch reefs (Ref. 9710). Shallow coastal waters to depths of 110 m (Ref. 26938). Lies motionless on the bottom, moving only when frightened (Ref. 9710). Larvae are attracted to lights at night but are difficult to see because they are transparent (Ref. 26938). About one-third of the diet consists of fishes; the rest of its food is crustaceans: crabs, shrimps, amphipods, and mantis shrimps (Ref. 13442).
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: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Norman 1934
Gutherz 1967
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Topp and Hoff 1972
Moore 1975a
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993a
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Munroe 2002a
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
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.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 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.
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.
Figueiredo, J.L. and N.A. Menezes (2000) Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. VI.Teleostei (5). Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo. Brazil. 116 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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