Common Name
Reef-cave Brotula
Year Described
Torre & Huerta, 1930
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 82-87
Anal Fin: 64-69
Pectoral Fin: 23-25
Caudal Fin: 8-10
Vertebrae: 41-43 total
Gill Rakers:
Body quite stout and compressed laterally. Tail tapering posteriorly. Snout bluntly squared off. Head triangular with a flat head profile and strongly oblique jawline. Eye medium. Anterior nostril tube shaped right above lip on snout. Rear nostril a pit. Lateral head canal with 3-4 pores. Supraorbital area with 2-4 pores. Mouth large with maxilla extending well past eye. Maxilla expanded rearward and triangular. Teeth in jaws and on vomer. Palatine teeth are absent. Spine present on opercle. Two or more distinct spines on lower angle of preopercle. Pectoral fin fanlike with short peduncle. Pelvic fin a single filamentous ray on throat. Dorsal and anal fin continuous with tail. Entire body and most of head fully scaled (top of head and snout naked). Two lateral lines covered in sensory papillae.
Color
Body uniformly brown with a purplish sheen in living fish. Fins black with a narrow pale edge. Edges of opercle, lips, eyes and bases of fins often noticeably paler.
Size
Maximum size to 90mm SL.
Habitat
Found inside deep recesses and caves in rocky areas and coral reefs. Caught between 6-280m.
Range
Widespread in the Caribbean Sea from S. Florida to the Lesser Antilles. Also Bermuda.
References
Cohen, D.M. 1964. A review of the ophidioid fish genus Oligopus with the description of a new species from West Africa. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 116: 1–22.
Nielsen, J.G. 2007. Grammonus yunokawai (Ophidiiformes: Bythitidae), a new marine cavefish from the Ryukyu Islands. Ichthyological Research, 54(4), 374-379.