Lonchopisthus micrognathus
Swordtail Jawfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Opistognathidae (Jawfishes)
Lonchopisthus
Lonchopisthus micrognathus (Swordtail Jawfish)
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
Very large eyes, relatively small maxilla, lanceolate caudal fin. Maxilla extends to about half of eye diameter behind posterior margin of orbit. Posterior margin of maxilla is weakly concave. Jaw teeth are small and conical. Vomer lacks teeth. Gill rakers on lower limb of first arch number 60 to 63. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 25%–28%, snout length 3%–4%, eye diameter 8%–9%, upper jaw length 14%–15%, pectoral fin length 16%–21%, body depth 22%–26%. Pectoral fin has 16 to 19 rays. Dorsal fin has 11 pungent spines and 16 to 18 rays. Anal fin has 3 spines and 15 to 17 rays. Middle 4 rays of caudal fin are longest. Body, cheek, and operculum are scaled. Scales in lateral series number about 63. Anterior section of lateral line is very near dorsal fin base. Vertebrae number 28: 10 precaudal and 18 caudal.
Color is tan, with narrow blue bands best developed anteriorly.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from southern Florida to northern South America, including the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba.
In the Gulf of Mexico, it occurs from the Dry Tortugas to southern Texas and the Gulf of Campeche.
Habitat Associations
Occurs to a depth of 86 m. Lives commensally with the crab Chasmocarcinus cylindricus and occurs in dense colonies.
Biology
Food consists of zooplankton.
Maximum known size is about 100 mm TL.
Found on silty or muddy bottoms of the continental shelf (Ref. 13628), in burrows (Ref. 9710). Sometimes found in colonies (Ref. 9710).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-08-23.
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Lonchopisthus lindneri and L. vanderbilti are synonyms of this species.
References
Jordan and Evermann 1898
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Mead 1959
Hoese and Moore 1977 (as Lonchopisthus lindneri)
Hoese and Moore 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Smith-Vaniz 2002b
Nelson, J.S. (1984) Fishes of the world. 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. 523 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.
Cervigón, F. (1994) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 3. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 295 p.
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