Eleotris amblyopsis
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Eleotridae (Sleepers)
Eleotris
Eleotris amblyopsis (Spinycheek Sleeper)
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
Mouth superior; strong spine on preoperculum; robust caudal fin; head slightly laterally expanded and depressed; lips thin; upper jaw extends to level of pupil; jaw teeth small, in two bands; tongue margin rounded; gill opening restricted dorsally; measurements (% SL): head length 27%–36%, snout length 7%–8%, eye diameter 4%–5%, interorbital width 8%–9%, upper jaw length 12%–14%, pectoral fin length 19%–31%, caudal fin length 13%–33%, body depth 18%–21%; pectoral fin broad, fanlike, with 15-18 rays; first dorsal fin VI; second dorsal fin I, 7-9; pelvic fins I, 5; anal fin I, 7-8; caudal fin rounded; body and most of head scaled, with cycloid scales on head, nape, chest, and abdomen, and ctenoid scales elsewhere; scales in horizontal series 40-58 (50-56 in North America); predorsal scales 29-46; transverse scale rows 11-18; vertebrae 25 (10 precaudal, 15 caudal)
Tan to brown with minute dark spots; ventral surface lighter than dorsal; two dark streaks radiating from eye on cheek; large spot at pectoral fin base
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina and Bermuda to southern Brazil, including northern and southern Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, and Antilles
Habitat Associations
Fresh and brackish waters on soft substrates; depth range not specified
Soft substrates
Biology
Maximum known size 250 mm SL
Encountered in fresh water as well as in hyper-saline environments (Ref. 13628). Benthic and hides between rocks or undergrowth during the day. Carnivorous, feeds on fish and crustaceans (Ref. 36880).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-12-06. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Dawson 1969b
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997 (as E. abacurus in part)
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999 (as E. abacurus in part)
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999 (all previous references, except Boschung, Schaldach et al., and Castro-Aguirre et al., as E. pisonis or in part as E. pisonis)
Murdy and Hoese 2002a
Pezold and Cage 2002
Cervigón, F. (1994) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 3. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 295 p.
Winemiller, K.O. and B.J. Ponwith (1998) Comparative ecology of eleotrid fishes in Central American coastal streams. Environ. Biol. Fishes 53(4):373-384.
Kullander, S.O. (2003) Gobiidae (Gobies). p. 657-665. In R.E. Reis, S.O. Kullander and C.J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds.) Checklist of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, Brasil.
Murdy, E.O. and D.F. Hoese (2003) Eleotridae. Sleepers. p. 1778-1780. In K.E. Carpenter (ed.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals.
Comments On Eleotris amblyopsis