Syacium micrurum
Channel Flounder
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Paralichthyidae (Sand Flounders)
Syacium
Syacium micrurum (Channel 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
Moderately elongate and oval in profile, with a relatively straight lateral line and a relatively narrow interorbital space. Lower eye is distinctly anterior to upper eye. Interorbital distance varies slightly between sexes and moderately with size within sexes. Maxilla extends to below midsection 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 short and stout and number two on upper limb and seven to nine on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 26%–28%, snout length 5%–6%, eye diameter 5%–7%, upper jaw length 10%–11%, ocular-side pectoral fin length about 46% for males, body depth 40%–43%. Pectoral fin on ocular side has 10 or 11 rays. Dorsal fin has 83 to 92 rays. Anal fin has 64 to 74 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 54 to 68. Precaudal vertebrae number 10, and caudal vertebrae number 24 or 25.
Ocular side is tan to brown, with or without darker spots and blotches on body and median fins. Blind side is white.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from the east coast of Florida, possibly the northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Depth range: to 412 m, generally limited to 91 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 300 mm TL
Found on soft bottoms of the continental plateau (Ref. 5217, 5377). Feeds on worms and crustaceans. Exhibits sexual dimorphism (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 (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Norman 1934
Gutherz 1967
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Munroe 2002c
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Maigret, J. and B. Ly (1986) Les poissons de mer de Mauritanie. Science Nat., Compiègne. 213 p.
Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott (1988) Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219:731 p.
Murakami, T. and K. Amaoka (1992) Review of the genus Syacium (Paralichthyidae) with the description of a new species from Ecuador and Columbia. Bull. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ. 43(2):61-95.
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.
Figueiredo, J.L. and N.A. Menezes (2000) Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. VI.Teleostei (5). Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo. Brazil. 116 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.
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