Synodus intermedius
Sand Diver
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Aulopiformes
Synodontidae (Lizardfishes)
Synodus
Synodus intermedius (Sand Diver)
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 cylindrical, with a relatively short dorsal fin and a large oblique mouth. Snout is conical and about as long as eye diameter. Body depth is 10.2% to 16.2%, head length is 23.4% to 29.6%, and snout length is 3.1% to 7.9% of SL. Upper jaw extends beyond lower jaw. Lower jaw has round tip. Teeth in jaws are compressed, pointed, and in narrow band, with inner teeth largest and depressible. Palatine has single band of teeth. Tongue has depressible teeth. Branchiostegal rays number 12 to 18. Pectoral fin has 11 to 13 rays, and when depressed, tips of rays extend beyond origin of pelvic fin. Dorsal fin has 11 to 13 rays, and when depressed, tips of anterior rays extend to but not beyond tips of succeeding rays. Pelvic fin has 8 rays, and medial rays are longest. Anal fin has 10 to 13 rays, and base is shorter than or equal to dorsal fin base. Dorsal adipose fin is present. Lateral line scales number 45 to 52 and are not enlarged but are keeled on caudal peduncle. Enlarged axillary scales occur at bases of pectoral and pelvic fins.
Color is brownish gray on head and upper trunk, with about eight bands extending below lateral line. Small patches of pigment occur between bands. Belly is light. Black oval spot is located on shoulder girdle, partially below upper margin of operculum. Young specimens are more intensely colored.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the West Indies, and the Caribbean Sea to the Guianas.
In the Gulf of Mexico it is more abundant east of Mobile Bay and in the eastern section of Campeche Bay.
Habitat Associations
From the shoreline to 320 m but is most common between 36 and 108 m.
Biology
Food consists of shrimps and fishes.
Maximum known size is 450 mm SL.
Found on the sandy bottom around boulders or in sandy corridors in patch reefs (Ref. 5521). Uncommon near the shore.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Anderson et al. 1966
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Hoese and Moore 1977
Uyeno et al. 1983
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Thresher, R.E. (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Neptune City, New Jersey. 399 p.
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.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 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.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
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.
Frable, B.W., C.C. Baldwin, B.M. Lutther and L.A. Weigt (2013) A new species of western Atlantic lizardfish (Teleostei: Synodontidae: Synodus) and resurrection of Synodus bondi Fowler, 1939, as a valid species from the Caribean with redescription of S. bondi, S. foetens (Linnaeus, 1766), and S. intermedius (Agassiz, 1829). Fish. Bull. 111(2):122-146. DOI: 10.7755/FB.111.2.2
Comments On Synodus intermedius