Chelidonichthys lucerna
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Triglidae (Searobins)
Chelidonichthys
Chelidonichthys lucerna
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. Longest ray in the pectoral fin reaching the front part of the anal fin. Lateral line scales smooth. Reddish color (Ref. 35388).
Distribution
Eastern Atlantic: Norway to Cape Blanc (along the African coast); not recorded at Madeira and the Azores. Also in the Mediterranean and Black seas.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 20-318 m. Found in: estuaries.
Biology
Occurs at temperatures ranging from 8.0-24.0 °C (Ref. 4944). Inhabits sand, muddy sand or gravel bottoms. Up to depth of 318 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Feeds on fish, crustaceans and mollusks. Has three isolated rays on the pectoral fin which function as legs on which the fish rests and also help in locating food on the soft bottom (Ref. 9988). Marketed fresh or frozen; eaten pan-fried, broiled, microwaved or baked (Ref. 9988).
Max length: 82.8 cm TL; common length: 30.0 cm TL; max weight: 6640 g; max age: 15 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-05-25. Resilience: Low (K=0.4; tmax=14; tm=3).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Richards, W.J. and V.P. Saksena (1990) Triglidae. p. 680-684. 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.
Hureau, J.-C. (1986) Triglidae. p. 1230-1238. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 3.
Moreira, F., C.A. Assis, P.R. Almeida, J.L. Costa and M.J. Costa (1992) Trophic relationships in the community of the Upper Tagus Estuary (Portugal: a preliminary approach. Estuar. Coast. Shelf-Sci. 34:617-623.
Muus, B.J. and J.G. Nielsen (1999) Sea fish. Scandinavian Fishing Year Book, Hedehusene, Denmark. 340 p.
Costa, M.J. (1988) Écologie alimentaire des poissons de l'estuaire du Tage. Cybium 12(4):301-320. DOI: 10.26028/cybium/1988-124-004
Mytilineou, C., C.-Y. Politou, C. Papaconstantinou, S. Kavadas, G. D'Onghia and L. Sion (2005) Deep-water fish fauna in the Eastern Ionian Sea. Belg. J. Zool., 135(2):229-233.
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.
Hasimoğlu, A., O. Ak, N. Kasapoğlu and E. Atılgan (2016) New maximum length report of Chelidonichthys lucerna (Linneaus, 1758) in the Black Sea, Turkey. J. Black Sea/Medit. Envi. 22(2):149-154.
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