Gillellus healae
Masked Stargazer
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Dactyloscopidae (Sand Stargazers)
Gillellus
Gillellus healae (Masked Stargazer)
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 is angular in profile. Eye is elevated but not stalked. Anterior naris is tubular, and posterior naris is a single pore located on anterior rim of pre-orbital bone and adjacent to base of anterior naris. Mouth is strongly oblique. Pedicel of premaxilla extends to posterior margin of eye. Jaw teeth are small, conical, and arranged in two rows. Fimbriae are present on lower lip and operculum and number four on lower lip. Principal preopercular sensory pores number three, and first is unbranched. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length about 22.3%, head width about 12.2%, orbit diameter about 3.6%, upper jaw length about 7.3%, pre-dorsal-fin length about 19.1%, body depth about 15.4%, caudal peduncle depth about 4.7%. Pectoral fin has 13 or 14 rays. Dorsal fin has 11 to 15 spines, with first 3 in a separate finlet, and 27 to 29 rays. Anal fin has 2 spines and 31 to 33 rays. Caudal fin has 10 rays, and 7 or 8 of these are branched. Scales are present on body but absent on head, pectoral fin base, and vent region. Scales between dorsal fin origin and lateral line are lacking. Lateral line scales number 47 or 48, with 30 or 31 in arched section and 16 or 17 in straight section. Caudal vertebrae number 32 to 34. Anterior section of lateral line is relatively long and arched.
Color in preservative is pale, with a broad, dusky mask across top and side of head above eye, and seven dark saddles on body that extend to lateral midline and run from nape to caudal fin base. Saddles are widest at lateral midline and may have pale centers and dark margins.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from South Carolina to Belize, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Keys, Puerto Rico, and Aruba in the Lesser Antilles. In the Gulf of Mexico it is known from the Dry Tortugas to Alabama.
Habitat Associations
Occurs between 21.3 and 75 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 55 mm SL
Burrows in soft sandy bottom, where it waits for prey, with only the eyes, nose and mouth protruding.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-02-04. Resilience: High.
References
Dawson 1982
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Smith 1997
Williams 2002b
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea and W.B. Scott (1991) Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. (20):183 p.
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.
Dawson, C.E. (1982) Atlantic sand stargazers (Pisces: Dactyloscopidae), with description of one new genus and seven new species. Bull. Mar. Sci. 32(1):14-85.
Williams, J.T. (2003) Dactyloscopidae. Stargazers. p. 1750-1753. 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 Gillellus healae