Ogcocephalus pantostictus
Spotted Batfish
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Ogcocephalidae (Batfishes)
Ogcocephalus
Ogcocephalus pantostictus (Spotted Batfish)
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
Depressed and subtriangular in outline anteriorly, with a variable rostrum; cranium rises steeply above disc; head depth 47% to 56% of length of disc margin; width of cranium 27% to 34% of length of disc margin; eye 56% to 71% of width of cranium; interorbital space slightly concave, width 40% to 56% of width of cranium and 24% to 35% of head depth; mouth width 56% to 71% of head depth and 28% to 36% of length of disc margin; jaw length 37% to 48% of head depth; teeth conical, retrorse, villiform; gill rakers oval plates with conical villiform teeth; pectoral fin with well-developed armlike pedicle, 11 to 14 unbranched rays; illicial cavity subtriangular in small specimens and oval in large specimens; esca with two prominent lateral lobes and a single fleshy median lobe; second dorsal fin with 3 to 5 unbranched rays; pelvic fin narrow based and flared distally; body covered with close-set tubercles and bucklers; lateral line scales 27 to 39, averaging 32.5; vertebrae 19 to 21
Gray or tan dorsally with evenly spaced dark round spots on disc and tail; pectoral fin same pattern as disc and tail; dorsal fin spotted; caudal fin dark basally, light medially, and black distally; ventral surface and pelvic and anal fins pale
Distribution
Northwestern Gulf of Mexico, from Mobile Bay, Alabama, to Tampico, Tamaulipas
Not mentioned separately from broader range
Habitat Associations
Western Atlantic, between 9 and 31 m
Not specified
Biology
Not mentioned
Maximum known size is 310 mm TL
Not mentioned
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-08-11. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Not mentioned
References
Hoese and Moore 1977 (as O. radiatus)
Bradbury 1980
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
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.
Bradbury, M.G. (1980) A revision of the fish genus Ogcocephalus with descriptions of new species from the western Atlantic Ocean (Ogcocephalidae: Lophiiformes). Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 42(7):229-285.
Comments On Ogcocephalus pantostictus