Symphurus civitatium
Offshore Tonguefish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Pleuronectfiormes (Flatfishes)
Cynoglossidae (Tonguefishes)
Symphurus
Symphurus civitatium (Offshore Tonguefish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
McEachran & Fechhelm (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
12 caudal fin rays; lacks pupillary operculum; anterior naris on ocular side terminates as short tube not reaching anterior margin of lower eye; posterior margin of maxilla extends to middle of pupil of lower eye; lower jaw on ocular side with fleshy ridge near posterior margin; jaw teeth well developed on blind side, limited to single row in anterior third of jaws or absent from upper jaw on ocular side; head length 17%–21.9% SL, head width 21.2%–27.1% SL, body depth 24.7%–32.8% SL; snout length 16.9%–23.1% HL, upper jaw length 18.1%–28.9% HL, eye diameter 7%–11% HL; dorsal fin originates anterior to or over anterior margin of upper eye, with 86-93 rays; pelvic fin short, posteriormost ray connected to body by membrane; anal fin with 46-50 rays; caudal fin short; body and head covered with large ctenoid scales; scales on ocular side of dorsal and anal fins, largely absent on blind side; 74-82 scales in longitudinal series; small scales on snout; dermal papillae well developed on blind side of snout and chin; 66-83 vertebrae
Ocular side light to dark brown, occasionally with dark bands across head and body; inner surface of opercular cavity and isthmus darkly pigmented; posterior third of dorsal and anal fins and caudal fin darkly pigmented; blind side unpigmented
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Cape Hatteras and Bermuda to the Gulf of Mexico
In the Gulf of Mexico at the Dry Tortugas and from the Florida Panhandle to Yucatán
Habitat Associations
Occurs between 1 and 172 m; adults most common between 11 and 45 m on sandy to silty substrates
Juveniles occur in estuaries
Biology
Maximum known size is 152 mm SL
References
Ginsburg 1951
Hildebrand 1954
Hildebrand 1955
Springer and Bullis 1956
Reséndez Medina 1979
Topp and Hoff 1972
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Darcy and Gutherz 1984
Robins and Ray 1986
Munroe 1991
Munroe 1992
Munroe 1998
Boschung 1992
Munroe et al. 2001
Munroe 2002f
Comments On Symphurus civitatium