Myripristis jacobus
Blackbar Soldierfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Beryciformes
Holocentridae (Squirrelfishes)
Myripristis
Myripristis jacobus (Blackbar Soldierfish)
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
Ovate, relatively deep-bodied, and compressed; bones on top of head smooth; crescentic preopercular margin; short opercular spine; snout blunt with slightly convex dorsal margin; maxilla extends nearly to posterior margin of pupil; lachrymal and suborbital bones with finely serrated margins; jaw teeth slightly larger near symphysis, arranged in bands that narrow distally; vomer and palatine with teeth; gill rakers on first arch 27-32, moderately long; preoperculum lacks spines; operculum with single short strong spine and serrated posterior margin; head length 33.8-37% SL; snout length 6.9-8.4% SL; eye diameter 14.2-17.7% SL; interorbital width 7.3-9.2% SL; upper jaw length 19.5-21% SL; body depth 33.8-37% SL; pectoral fin length 26.7-27.7% SL; pelvic fin length 21.1-24.9% SL; pectoral fin with 14 or 15 rays; dorsal fin with 11 spines and 13-15 rays; anal fin with 4 spines and 12 or 13 rays; caudal fin deeply forked with pointed lobes; scales large, deeper than long; lateral line scales 34-36; vertebrae 26
Red on upper one-half of head and body, paling to silvery ventrally; red to brownish black bar posterior to operculum and on pectoral fin base; spinous dorsal fin with red-and-white markings; leading edges of rayed section of dorsal fin, pelvic fin, anal fin, and outer edge of caudal fin white
Distribution
Tropical and subtropical Atlantic; in western Atlantic from southern Florida to Brazil, including Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, and Caribbean Sea
In western Gulf of Mexico may be limited to West Flower Gardens Reef
Habitat Associations
Shallow reefs
Biology
Maximum known size 200 mm SL
Found from shallow coral reefs to offshore deeper waters (Ref. 3724). A nocturnal species aggregating around coral reefs and deeper rocky reefs (Ref. 3724). Feeds mainly on planktonic organisms (Ref. 3724). Occasionally found swimming upside down (Ref. 9710). Marketed fresh but not popular as a food fish (Ref. 5217).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by combination of characters
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Woods and Sonoda 1973
Bright and Cashman 1974
G. B. Smith et al. 1975
Hoese and Moore 1977
Uyeno et al. 1983
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Thresher, R.E. (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Neptune City, New Jersey. 399 p.
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
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.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 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.
Cohen, D.M., A.W. Ebeling, T. Iwamoto, S.B. McDowell, N.B. Marshall, D.E. Rosen, P. Sonoda, W.H. Weed III and L.P. Woods (1973) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part six. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Moore, J., A. Polanco Fernandez, B. Russell and J.D. McEachran (2015) Myripristis jacobus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T16442540A115359792. Downloaded on 31 May 2017.
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