Syacium papillosum
Dusky Flounder
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Paralichthyidae (Sand Flounders)
Syacium
Syacium papillosum (Dusky 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 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. 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 eight or nine on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 26%–28%, snout length 5%–6%, orbit diameter 5%–7%, ocular-side pectoral fin length 22%–62% for males and about 24% for females, body depth 40%–44%. Pectoral fin on ocular side has 11 or 12 rays. Dorsal fin has 82 to 94 rays. Pelvic fin bases are short, and that of ocular-side fin is on ventral midline and slightly posterior to that of blind-side fin. Anal fin has 64 to 75 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 47 to 60. Vertebrae number 35 or 36: 10 precaudal and 25 or 26 caudal.
Ocular side is brown, with few or no darker spots and blotches and three or four dark bands on pectoral fin. Blind side is dusky in males and white to slightly dusky in females.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to Brazil, including the entire Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles.
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Between 9 and 137 m, associated with both calcareous and muddy bottoms
Relatively more common on calcareous bottoms
Biology
Maximum known size is 250 mm TL
Predator which lives on the bottom where it hides partially or almost completely in the sand in order to disguise itself in the environment. Feeds on small fish and invertebrates. Exhibits sexual dimorphism (Ref. 35237). Marketed fresh (Ref. 5217).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 101737). Distinct pairing (Ref. 205). Females produce numerous eggs in multiple spawnings during a prolonged spawning period (Ref. 101737).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Hildebrand 1955
Gutherz 1967
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Matsuura 1983p
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993a
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
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.
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.
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.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 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.
Moser, H.G. and B.Y. Sumida (1996) Paralichthyidae: Lefteye flounders and sanddabs. p. 1325-1355. 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.
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