Saurida normani
Shortjaw Lizardfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Aulopiformes
Synodontidae (Lizardfishes)
Saurida
Saurida normani (Shortjaw Lizardfish)
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
Moderately elongate, moderately slender, and almost cylindrical, with a relatively short dorsal fin and a large oblique mouth. Snout is blunt, narrow, and slightly shorter than eye diameter. Body depth is 11.7% to 15.1%, head length is 22.7% to 26.7%, and snout length is 4.2% to 5.7% of SL. Upper jaw extends beyond lower jaw. Teeth are arranged in bands in upper and lower jaws, with inner teeth longest. Similar teeth occur on tongue and branchial arches, and in two bands in palatine. Branchiostegal rays number 13 to 16. Pectoral fin has 13 or 14 rays, and when depressed, tip of fin extends to or beyond pelvic fin base. Dorsal fin has 10 to 12 rays, and when depressed, tips of anterior rays extend beyond all succeeding rays. Pelvic fin has 9 rays, and medial rays are longer than outer rays. Anal fin has 9 to 11 rays, and base is shorter than dorsal fin base. Dorsal adipose fin is present. Scales cover cheeks, gill cover, body, and base of caudal fin. Lateral line scales number 51 to 56 and are not enlarged. Enlarged axillary scales occur on bases of pectoral and pelvic fins. Vertebrae number 49.
Color is grayish on dorsal parts of head and trunk to lateral line. Five or six dark blotches occur along lateral line. Belly is silvery. Dorsal and caudal fins are dusky, and anterior edge of pelvic fin has dark blotch.
Distribution
Western North Atlantic from North Carolina to the Florida Keys and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Bottom from 40 to 550 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 450 mm SL
Found on sand or mud bottoms.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-28. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Anderson et al. 1966
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Castro-Aguirre and Marquez-Espinoza 1981
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
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.
Gómez-Canchong, P., L. Manjarrés M., L.O. Duarte and J. Altamar (2004) Atlas pesquero del area norte del Mar Caribe de Colombia. Universidad del Magadalena, Santa Marta. 230 p.
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