Brotula barbata
Atlantic Bearded Brotula
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Ophidiiformes (Pearlfishes and others)
Ophidiidae (Cusk-Eels)
Brotula
Brotula barbata (Atlantic Bearded Brotula)
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
Rather stout bodied and tapering posteriorly, with three barbels on each side of snout and lower jaw. Snout is acute and equal to lower jaw. Mouth is moderate in size and nearly horizontal. Small, blunt teeth occur in jaws, vomer, and palatine. Basibranchial tooth patch is absent. First gill arch has three rudimentary gill rakers on epibranch and five rudiments and three gill rakers on lower limb. Opercular spine is present. Branchiostegal rays number 8. Head length is 22.2% to 24.4%, snout length is 4.1% to 5.7%, interorbital length is 3.3% to 4.2%, predorsal length is 23.9% to 27.1%, preanal length is 45.9% to 53%, and body depth is 16.3% to 20% of SL. Pectoral fin is broad based and has 25 or 26 rays. Dorsal fin originates posterior to pectoral fin base and has 112 to 117 rays. Pelvic fin is located beneath preoperculum and consists of 2 filamentous rays. Anal fin has 86 to 94 rays, and caudal fin has 9 to 11 rays. Body is covered with small scales.
Color is reddish to olive brown, with occasional spots or freckles. Young are covered with dark spots and stripes on cheeks, but these are lost with growth.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Bermuda and Florida to northern South America, including the entire Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
From near shore to the upper slope
Biology
Maximum known size is 600 mm TL
Common species (Ref. 34024). Adults benthopelagic (Ref. 34024) down to 650 m, but most often on the continental shelf (Ref. 3686), on sandy and muddy bottoms (Ref. 2683). Juveniles common in reefs (Ref. 34024). Smaller silvery specimens taken far out at sea in the epipelagic (Ref. 34024). Oviparous, with oval pelagic eggs floating in a gelatinous mass (Ref. 205).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: Medium (K=0.19).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Hubbs 1944
Hoese and Moore 1977
Castro-Aguirre and Marquez-Espinoza 1981
Uyeno et al. 1983
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Nielsen, J.G. (1990) Ophidiidae. p. 564-573. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
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.
Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle and C.R. Robins (1999) Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(18):178p. Rome: FAO.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Comments On Brotula barbata