Foetorepus agassizii
Spotfin Dragonet
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Callionymidae (Dragonets)
Foetorepus
Foetorepus agassizii (Spotfin Dragonet)
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
Head slightly depressed; preopercular spine with two barbs at tip; jaw teeth villiform and arranged in broad bands; eye very large and directed dorsolaterally; preopercular spine has a smooth base, lacks an antrorse spine or hook on base, is upturned near tip, and bears two dorsal barbs; gill opening small, oval, and dorsolateral in position; measurements (% SL): head length 27.8%–29.8% in males and 25.8%–30.6% in females, snout length 7.7%–8.6% in males and 7.8%–8.7% in females, eye diameter 9%–10.6% in males and 9%–11.1% in females, upper jaw length 8.1%–8.8% in males and 8.3%–8.9% in females, pre-dorsal-fin length 31.2%–32.9% in males and 33.1%–33.6% in females, body depth 11.6%–14.2% in males and 12.5%–14.6% in females; pectoral fin has 20 to 23 rays (usually 2 simple rays and 18 to 21 long, branched rays); first dorsal fin has four spines; second dorsal fin is convex in males and nearly straight in females and has 8 branched rays; pelvic fin connected to pectoral fin by broad membrane; anal fin has 7 rays; caudal fin is diamond shaped, with middle 2 rays extending as filaments in males; lateral line is single and complete.
In life, upper body and head are carmine red, with dark red markings on body; belly is white; first dorsal fin has a jet black spot between third and fourth spines, and anal fin has a black band near margin. In preservative, body and head are yellow, with a dark spot on dorsal fin and a dark band on anal fin.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Canada to northern Brazil, including the eastern, northwestern, and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles.
Habitat Associations
Between 91 and 650 m depth.
Biology
Maximum known size is 250 mm TL.
Found on muddy or sandy bottoms (Ref. 13628). Neither opercular spine gland nor anterolateral glandular groove with venom gland is present (Ref. 57406). Minimum depth from Ref. 58018.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders; parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-20. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Jordan and Evermann 1898 (as Callionymus himantophorus)
Fricke 1981
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Smith 1997
Nakabo and Hartel 1999
Hartel and Nakabo 2002a
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Davis, W.P and R. Fricke (1990) Callionymidae. p. 921-924. 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.
Cervigón, F. (1994) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 3. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 295 p.
Nakabo, T. and K.E. Hartel (1999) Foetorepus goodenbeani: a new species of dragonet (Teleostei: Callionymidae) from the western North Atlantic Ocean. Copeia 1999(1):114-121.
Comments On Foetorepus agassizii