Common Name
Fringed Sole
Year Described
Gunter, 1936
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 57-66
Anal Fin: 41-48
Pectoral Fin: 1-3 (rudimentary on ocular side only)
Pelvic Fin: 5 (continuous with anal fin)
Head and body scaleless with loose skin. Blind side with many dermal folds. Mouth is terminal and tiny, with tiny villiform teeth only on blind side of jaws. Opercular cavity very small. Long dermal cirri (to 6mm in adults) dorsal to ocular-side lateral line. Accessory lateral lines (perpendicular to lateral line) number 5-9. Third accessory lateral line has 21-48 (usually 27-38) pores.
Color
Pale base color with 25-49 (usually >30) full and partial dark crossbands on the body from snout to caudal peduncle, extending continuously onto the dorsal and anal fins. Pale interspaces almost 2 times wider than dark bands. Three to six slightly curved bands on the caudal fin. Blind side cream to white. Juveniles melanic, often without bands.
Size
Maximum size to 12cm SL.
Habitat
Mud bottoms from 20-187m (usually 55-90m).
Range
Gulf of Mexico: Northwest Florida to Campeche Bank, Mexico
References
McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. 2005. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 2: Scorpaeniformes to Tetraodontiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. i-viii +1-1004.
Munroe, T.A. 2002. Achiridae (pp 1925-1933). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and sea mammals. FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.