Syacium gunteri
Shoal Flounder
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Paralichthyidae (Sand Flounders)
Syacium
Syacium gunteri (Shoal Flounder)
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.)
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Characters
Relatively deep bodied and oval in profile, with a comparatively broad interorbital space and a relatively straight lateral line. Lower eye is distinctly anterior to upper eye. Interorbital width varies between sexes and with size within sexes. In males between 80 and 90 mm SL, interorbital width is 25% to 40% of lower eye diameter; between 91 and 100 mm SL, 25% to 40%; and between 101 mm and maximum SL, 35% to 55%. In females between 80 and 90 mm SL, interorbital width is 20% to 35% of lower eye diameter, and for those between 91 and 98 mm SL, it is 25% to 40%. Maxilla extends to below middle of lower eye. Jaws and teeth are equally developed on each side. Jaw teeth are conical and curved, biserial in upper jaw, and uniserial in lower jaw. Gill rakers on first arch are relatively long and thick and number two to four on upper limb and six to eight on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 25%–29%, snout length 5%–6%, orbit diameter 5%–6%, upper jaw length 10%–11%, ocular-side pectoral fin length 27%–37% for males and 18%–23% for females, body depth 50%–56%. Pectoral fin on ocular side has 9 to 11 rays. Dorsal fin has 74 to 85 rays. Pelvic fin bases are short and asymmetrical. Anal fin has 59 to 68 rays. Caudal fin is bluntly rounded. Body is covered with ctenoid scales on ocular side and cycloid scales on blind side. Lateral line scales number 46 to 55. Vertebrae number 33 to 36: 10 precaudal and 23 to 26 caudal.
Ocular side is tan, with or without darker spots and blotches on body and median fins. Blind side is white.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles.
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Generally found between 17 and 126 m on sandy and mud bottoms
Relatively less abundant on calcareous bottoms
Biology
Food consists of annelids, crustaceans, and ray-finned fishes.
Maximum known size is 200 mm TL.
Found between the shore and 100 m depth, on sand or mud bottoms rich in organic matter. Feed mainly on shrimps (Penaeidae), amphipods, crustacean larvae and annelids. The whole life cycle develops on the continental shelf. During reproduction in May and September, adults gather in shallow waters of the estuaries and along the coast. Sexual activity takes place during the rainy season which corresponds to quite a large influx of organic matter, thereby ensuring food for the breeding fish. Sexual dimorphism affects the interorbital width and pectoral fin length of the hidden side. Juveniles remain planktonic for a long time with a high growth rate of >5% per day (Ref. 35237).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Distinct pairing (Ref. 205).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (K=0.7).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Hildebrand 1955
Gutherz 1967
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Munroe 2002c
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.
Garcia-Abad, C., A. Yañez-Arancibia, P. Sánchez-Gil and M.T. Garcia (1992) Distribución, reproducción y alimentación de Syacium gunteri Ginsburg (Pisces: Bothidae), en el Golfo de México. Rev. Biol. Trop. 39(1):27-34.
Keith, P., P.-Y. Le Bail and P. Planquette (2000) Atlas des poissons d'eau douce de Guyane. Tome 2, Fascicule I: Batrachoidiformes, Mugiliformes, Beloniformes, Cyprinodontiformes, Synbranchiformes, Perciformes, Pleuronectiformes, Tetraodontiformes. Collection Patrimoines Naturels 43(I): 286p. Paris: Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.
Comments On Syacium gunteri