Kathetostoma albigutta
Lancer Stargazer
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Uranoscopidae (Stargazers)
Kathetostoma
Kathetostoma albigutta (Lancer 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
Three spines on ventral margin of preoperculum; lacks spinous dorsal fin; upper and lower lips sparsely covered with short fimbriae; anterior naris at end of a short tube with a multilobed tentacle on posterior margin; posterior naris a pore anterior to eye; depressions lacking behind eye; shallow recess in frontal bones between eyes; dentary bones lack prominent ridges; preopercular margin membranous with three stout spines on lower margin; operculum lacks spines with crenate membranous margin; gill slit extends from above pectoral fin base to isthmus; cleithral spine prominent, conical, and directed posterodorsally; head length 38%–42% SL, snout length 6%–8% SL, orbit diameter 4%–5% SL, interorbital distance 8%–9% SL, upper jaw length 15%–18% SL, pectoral fin length 24%–29% SL, body depth 23%–27% SL; pectoral fin has 14 to 16 rays; dorsal fin has 13 to 15 rays; pelvic fin base has a forwardly directed spine; anal fin has 12 to 15 rays; body lacks scales except for scalelike structures associated with lateral line; lateral line runs along dorsal surface, curves ventrally at caudal peduncle, and runs to near end of caudal fin.
Reddish brown dorsally with round white spots; white ventrally; pectoral fin brownish black; dorsal fin has two to five elongate black spots; caudal fin has three or more black spots.
Distribution
Western North Atlantic from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Found throughout the Gulf of Mexico within its depth range.
Habitat Associations
Occurs between 27 and 436 m depth.
Juvenile specimens occur in shallow water to 57 m.
Biology
Maximum known size is 280 mm TL.
Inhabits offshore waters. Cleithral spine with venom gland (Ref. 57406).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-21. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Berry and Anderson 1961
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997c
Carpenter 2002
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.
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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