Ptereleotris calliura
Blue Dartfish
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Ptereleotridae (Dartfishes)
Ptereleotris
Ptereleotris calliura (Blue Dartfish)
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.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Pectoral fin is fan shaped and has 20 rays, all but outermost rays are branched. First dorsal fin has six slender spines and is partially connected to second dorsal fin. Second dorsal fin has one spine and 21 or 22 rays. Pelvic fin has one spine and 4 rays. Anal fin has one spine and 21 rays. Caudal fin is lanceolate, and median rays are elongated into a filamentous extension. Body is covered with very small embedded scales. Gill rakers on first arch are long and slender and number about 30. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 19.8%–21.3%, snout length 4%–4.4%, eye diameter 4.5%–5.8%, upper jaw length 7.2%–8.1%, pre-dorsal-fin length 25.4%–26.7%, pre-anal-fin length 50.5%–53.4%, body depth 13.1%–15.9%. Jaw teeth are moderately large to large, caninelike, and arranged in two rows. Vomer and palatine have blunt teeth. Tongue is narrow and largely free of floor of mouth. Gill membranes are connected and jointed to isthmus at level of preoperculum.
Color is bluish gray to lavender in life, with a black stripe near margin of two dorsal fins and black pigment on anal fin and lower half of caudal fin. Color in preservative is tan, with black submarginal stripes on dorsal fins and black pigment on anal and caudal fins.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to southern Florida and the northern and western Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Around coral reefs between 5 and 50 m.
Burrows in shell rubble and sand.
Biology
Maximum known size is 125 mm TL.
Burrows in open sand. Hovers over burrow (Ref. 9710).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2010-03-01.
References
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Murdy and Hoese 2002b
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.
Pattengill, C.V., B.X. Semmens and S.R. Gittings (1997) Reef fish trophic structure at the Flower Gardens and Stetson Bank, NW Gulf of Mexico. Proc. 8th Int. Coral Reef Sym. 1:1023-1028.
Comments On Ptereleotris calliura