Prionotus longispinosus
Bigeye Searobin
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Scorpaeniformes (Lionfish, Stonefish and others)
Triglidae (Searobins)
Prionotus
Prionotus longispinosus (Bigeye 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
Large head; moderately long and acutely rounded pectoral fins; snout moderately long and depressed at tip; rostral projection well developed and broadly rounded with crenate margin; mouth subterminal and rather large; nasal spine absent; rostral and anterior infraorbital spines well developed; posterior infraorbital and supplemental preopercular spines moderately developed; villiform teeth in bands in jaws, palatine, and vomer; gill rakers on first arch 0-1 on upper limb and 8-11 on lower limb; head length 33%-36% SL, head depth 19%-23% SL, snout length 14%-15% SL, orbit diameter 7%-8% SL, interorbital width 4%-5% SL, upper jaw length 13%-15% SL, preopercular spine length 14%-16% SL, pectoral fin length 44%-48% SL, first free pectoral fin ray length 23%-27% SL, body depth 20%-23% SL; joined pectoral fin rays 12 or 13; first dorsal fin with 9 or 10 spines, second dorsal fin with 12 or 13 rays; anal fin rays 10 to 12; body covered with small ctenoid scales; nape, belly, and chest fully scaled; lateral scale rows 88 to 106
Brownish gray dorsally, grading to white ventrally; dorsal fins light gray with dark ocellated spot on first dorsal fin; pectoral fin nearly black with white, yellow, or light blue spots; anal fin light gray with dark median band; caudal fin light gray with dusky margin
Distribution
Western Atlantic from the northern and western Gulf of Mexico
In the Gulf of Mexico, most common west of Apalachicola Bay
Habitat Associations
Near shore to 219 m; most abundant between 9 and 91 m; muddy bottoms
Muddy bottoms; young common inshore, moving into deeper water with growth
Biology
Polychaetes, amphipods, mysid shrimps, penaeid shrimps, crabs, and ray-finned fishes; penaeid shrimps and crabs dominant prey, especially for large individuals; small individuals consume high proportion of crab megalops
Maximum known size 350 mm SL
Spawning occurs from January through August or September, most intense from January through April or May; maturity reached in first year of life at 120 to 130 mm TL
Adults are found mostly below 27 m depth. Young are very common in bays and estuaries.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-08-11. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Ginsburg 1950 (as P. rubio)
Teague 1951
Hoese and Moore 1977 (as P. rubio)
Hoese and Moore 1998
Ross 1983 (as P. rubio)
Robins and Ray 1986
Miller and Richards 1991b
Boschung 1992
Hoff 1992
Russell et al. 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997 (as P. rubio)
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Richards and Miller 2002a
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.
Richards, W.J. (1996) Triglidae: searobins. p. 797-805. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. 1505 p.
McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm (2005) Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Vol. 2. Austin : University of Texas Press. viii+1004p.
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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