Evorthodus lyricus
Lyre Goby
NS
G5
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gobiidae (Gobies)
Evorthodus
Evorthodus lyricus (Lyre Goby)
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
Dorsal fins close together or joined at base; mouth slightly inferior; upper jaw extends to posterior margin of pupil; lower jaw slightly included in upper jaw; lips rather thin; upper lip has free dorsal margin; teeth in upper jaw uniserial, close set, compressed, and truncate or bilobed in females and juvenile males, and widely spaced, conical, or caninelike in adult males; teeth in lower jaw partially biserial; tongue entire or rounded; gill opening extends ventrally below pectoral fin base; head length 24%-28.3% SL; snout length 5.7%-7.8% SL; eye diameter 4.6%-6.2% SL; upper jaw length 8.7%-10.2% SL; pre-dorsal-fin length 31.4%-36.2% SL; pelvic fin length 21.9%-26.1% SL; caudal fin length 30.6%-50.1% SL; body depth 21.1%-23.7% SL; pectoral fin extends beyond anal fin origin and has 15 to 17 rays; dorsal fin divided; first dorsal fin has six spines, and second dorsal fin has one spine and 10 rays; pelvic fins united by membrane to form broad disc; anal fin has one spine and 11 rays; body completely covered with ctenoid scales; head has cycloid scales between posterior margins of orbits and on upper section of operculum; head has two sensory pores between eyes and one pore medial to posterior naris; scales in lateral series number 30 to 35; median scales preceding dorsal fin origin number 15 to 19; scale rows on operculum number two or three; vertebrae number 26: 10 precaudal and 16 caudal
Tan, with five or six irregular, narrow dark bars and median dark blotches on sides; lyre-shaped mark on base of caudal fin consists of two square dark blotches separated by a pale tan central area; males have a pink stripe on upper and lower caudal fin lobes
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Chesapeake Bay to northern South America, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles
Habitat Associations
Bays and estuaries; associated with muddy substrates
Muddy substrates
Biology
Maximum known size is 150 mm SL
Occur mainly in muddy backwaters of bays and estuaries, often in foul waters. Also found on muddy bottoms of fresh water (Ref. 13628).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external. Benthic spawner.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2019-02-12. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Ginsburg 1931
Dawson 1967b
Dawson 1969b
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Wyanski and Targett 1985
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Murdy and Hoese 2002b
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.
Cervigón, F. (1994) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 3. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 295 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.
Cole, K.S. (1990) Patterns of gonad structure in hermaphroditic gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Environ. Biol. Fishes 28(1-4):125-142.
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