Etropus crossotus
Fringed Flounder
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Paralichthyidae (Sand Flounders)
Etropus
Etropus crossotus (Fringed 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.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Deep bodied, small mouth, low interorbital ridge, no secondary squamation. Anterior profile of head straight in juveniles, concave in adults. Eyes close set, lower eye slightly anterior to upper eye. Maxilla extends to anterior section of lower eye. Mandible asymmetrical with symphyseal knob. Jaw teeth small, conical, blunt, in a single row, larger on blind side. Gill rakers short, stout, 3-6 on upper limb, 6-9 on lower limb. Measurements (% SL): head length 20%-25%, snout length 3%-4%, eye diameter 4%-5%, upper jaw length 4%-6%, ocular-side pectoral fin length 14%-16%, caudal peduncle depth 12%-14%, body depth 53%-59%. Pectoral fin on ocular side has 8-10 rays. Dorsal fin has 73-84 rays. Pelvic fin bases short, ocular-side fin base on ventral midline, slightly posterior to blind-side fin base. Anal fin has 57-67 rays. Caudal fin rounded. Scales weakly ctenoid on ocular side, cycloid on blind side, lacking on snout. Lateral line developed on both sides, not arched over pectoral fin, with 38-45 scales. Precaudal vertebrae 10, caudal vertebrae 24-26.
Ocular side uniformly dark olive brown, often with dark margin on caudal fin. Specimens from Campeche Bank whitish on ocular side. Blind side white.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Virginia to possibly northern South America, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles.
Northern and southern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Between shoreline and 30 m, occasionally to 91 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 200 mm TL
Inhabits sandy and muddy bottoms (Ref. 9330). Common in estuaries (Ref. 9330). Feeds on big, benthic invertebrates and small fishes (Ref. 9330). Utilized fresh (Ref. 9330).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 101737). Distinct pairing (Ref. 205). Females produce numerous eggs in multiple spawnings during a prolonged spawning period (Ref. 101737).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (tmax=1.2; K >0.3).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Norman 1934 (as Etropus intermedius, in part)
Hildebrand 1955
Springer and Woodburn 1960
Gutherz 1967
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Leslie and Stewart 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Munroe 2002c
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Stickney, R.R., G.L. Taylor and R.W. Heard III (1974) Food habits of Georgia eastuarine fishes. I. Four species of flounders (Pleuronectiformes: Bothidae). Fish. Bull. 72(2):515-525.
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.
Leslie, A.J. Jr. and D.J. Stewart (1986) Systematics and distributional ecology of Etropus (Pisces, Bothidae) on the Atlantic Coast of the United States with description of a new species. Copeia 1986(1):140-156.
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.
Moser, H.G. and B.Y. Sumida (1996) Paralichthyidae: Lefteye flounders and sanddabs. p. 1325-1355. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. 1505 p.
Munroe, T. (2015) Etropus crossotus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T16777804A16782053. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T16777804A16782053.en. Downloaded on 17 July 2017. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T16777804A16782053.en
Rodriguez, A., K. Mendoza and J. Paramo (2023) Length-weight relationships and relative condition factor of 53 species of Shallow-Water fish in the Colombian Caribbean Sea. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 2023(6632464):1-10.
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