Macroramphosus gracilis
Slender Snipefish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Gasterosteiformes (Sticklebacks and relatives)
Macroramphosidae (Snipefishes)
Macroramphosus
Macroramphosus gracilis (Slender Snipefish)
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
Compressed, moderately deep bodied, and relatively elongate, with snout produced into long tube, body plates on flank, and relatively short second dorsal spine. Body depth is 22.4% to 24.9% (x = 23.2%), snout length is 34.5% to 37.8% (x = 36%), and second dorsal spine is 20.9% to 28.9% (x = 24.5%) of SL. Pectoral fin has 12 to 14 rays. First dorsal fin is separated from second dorsal fin and has six to eight spines. Second dorsal fin has 10 or 11 rays. Anal fin originates under first dorsal fin, has 17 to 19 rays, and base length is slightly more than twice as long as second dorsal fin base. Caudal fin has a slightly concave margin.
Color is silvery in juveniles, with back darker. Adults are pinkish to reddish on upper side and silvery ventrally.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs off Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, and the northern Gulf of Mexico.
In the Gulf of Mexico it has been captured off Alabama and Mississippi
Habitat Associations
Tropical seas, at 200 to 300 m
Biology
Found in a wide range of habitats, from near surface to near bottom and sometimes in huge schools (Ref. 2850). May range into coastal waters (Ref. 36711). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 36711). Seems to be sympatric with Macroramphosus scolopax (Linnaeus, 1758) all around the world (Ref. 89357).
Max length: 15.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 36711).
IUCN Red List Status: N.E. (N.E.). Resilience: Medium (K=0.55-1.18; tmax=2).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the given combination of characters
References
T. A. Clarke 1984
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
Tinker, S.W. (1978) Fishes of Hawaii, a handbook of the marine fishes of Hawaii and the Central Pacific Ocean. Hawaiian Service Inc., Honolulu. 568 p.
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 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.
Watson, W. (1996) Centriscidae: snipefishes and shrimpfishes. p. 725-727. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Mundy, B.C. (2005) Checklist of the fishes of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Mus. Bull. Zool. (6):1-704.
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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