Prionotus alatus
Spiny Searobin
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Triglidae (Searobins)
Prionotus
Prionotus alatus (Spiny Searobin)
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
Nasal spines present; pectoral fins greatly elongated; snout long, concave, and depressed anteriorly; rostral projection well developed, strongly rounded, with crenate margin; mouth subterminal and short; supplemental preopercular spine moderately developed; rostral and infraorbital spines persistent; villiform teeth in bands on jaws, vomer, and palatine; gill rakers on first arch 1-4 upper, 9-21 lower; head length 34%-37% SL, snout length 16%-18% SL, orbital diameter 7%-8% SL, interorbital width 3%-4% SL, longest upper pectoral fin ray 38%-44% SL, longest lower pectoral fin ray 56%-63% SL, first free pectoral fin ray 21%-23% SL, preopercular spine 12%-16% SL; joined pectoral fin rays 12 or 13; first dorsal fin with 10 (rarely 8 or 9) spines; second dorsal fin with 12 (rarely 11) rays; anal fin with 11 rays; body covered with small ctenoid scales; nape scaled, belly naked anterior to line connecting innermost pelvic rays
Brown dorsally and laterally, light tan to white ventrally; dark blotch on first dorsal fin; pectoral fin light with medial and distal bands across all but outermost fin rays
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Virginia to eastern Gulf of Mexico, west coast of Florida to Mobile Bay, and on Campeche Bank
Habitat Associations
55-457 m depth; carbonate sediments including broken shell and bryozoan fragments
Carbonate sediments, including broken shell and bryozoan fragments
Biology
Polychaetes, ostracods, stomatopods, penaeid shrimps, brachyuran crabs, and ray-finned fishes such as Bregmaceros atlanticus
Maximum known size about 200 mm SL
Spawning occurs between March and June in the eastern Gulf of Mexico
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-20. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Ginsburg 1950
Teague 1951
Miller and Kent 1971
Lewis and Yerger 1976
Hoese and Moore 1977
Ross 1977
Robins and Ray 1986
McClure and McEachran 1992
Boschung 1992
Miller and Richards 1991b
Smith 1997
Richards and Miller 2002a
Hoese and Moore 1998
Ross 1983
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.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 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.
Comments On Prionotus alatus