Gymnachirus melas
Naked Sole
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Achiridae (American Soles)
Gymnachirus
Gymnachirus melas (Naked Sole)
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
Nearly circular in profile, with a matting of dermal folds and fimbriae on blind side of head and margin of body, fleshy dorsal and anal fins. Mouth is terminal. Jaw teeth are villiform, arranged in patches, and limited to blind side of jaws. Vomer and palatine lack teeth. Gill rakers are absent. Opercular opening is greatly restricted, and opercular cavities are connected by interbranchial septum. Gill membranes are largely free of isthmus. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 18.9%–31.6%, caudal fin length 20.5%–35.4%, body depth 50.8%–62.3%. Small rudimentary pectoral fin is located above gill slit on ocular side and has 1 to 3 rays; occasionally it is invaginated or hidden beneath integument. Pectoral fin on blind side is absent. Dorsal and anal fins are very fleshy and are separate from caudal fin. Dorsal fin has 62 to 70 rays, and anal fin has 44 to 52 rays. Pelvic fins are enclosed in common dermal envelope that is continuous with anal fin, and each fin consists of 5 rays. Anus is located on blind side, urinary papilla is located on ocular side, and both are near posterior margin of pelvic fin envelope. Blind side of head and margin of head on ocular side are covered with matting of dermal folds. Accessory lateral lines on ocular side, running perpendicular to lateral line, number 7 to 10. Third accessory lateral line on ocular side has 35 to 79 (usually 47 to 62) pores.
Ocular side is pale tan to brown, with moderate to narrow brown to black stripes. Total stripes number 15 to 32 (usually 20 to 30), and caudal fin stripes number 3 to 5. Light interstripes are as wide as or slightly wider than primary stripes. Juveniles (less than 55 mm SL) are dark and have no stripes. Blind side is pale creamy white.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Cape Cod and the Bahamas to the Gulf of Mexico. In the Gulf of Mexico it occurs from the Dry Tortugas to Pensacola.
Habitat Associations
Occurs between 1 and 183 m
Biology
Food consists of poriferans, bivalve mollusks, polychaetes, ostracods, amphipods, cumaceans, brachyurans, stomatopods, and lancelets.
Maximum known size is 164 mm SL
Inhabits coastal waters (Ref. 26938). Occurs from shoreline to 183 m depth (Ref. 5521).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-24. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Gunter 1936
Gunter 1939 (as Nodogymnus williamsoni)
Longley and Hildebrand 1941 (as N. williamsoni)
Dawson 1964
Dawson 1967c
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Robins and Ray 1986
Smith 1997
Munroe 2002e
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 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.
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.
Ocean Biogeographic Information System (2006) OBIS-extracted Depth Data. Harvested by E.Agbayani July 2006 at www.iobis.org.
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.
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