Common Name
Royal Basslet
Year Described
Robins & Colin, 1979
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XII, 9
Anal Fin: III, 8
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Pectoral Fin: 17
Caudal Rays: 17 (principal)
Gill Rakers: 14 total
Vertebrae: 10 precaudal, 15 caudal; 25 total
Lateral Scale Rows:
Body stout with pointed snout. Lateral line absent. Preopercular margin smooth. Pelvic fin extends well past anal fin origin when depressed. Outer procurrent caudal rays thickened (3 ventrally and dorsally). Caudal fin emarginate.
Color
Base color pale yellowish to pale bluish with 6 orange-yellow bands on the body. The first two, in the pectoral region, surround a bright white to pale blue area. The first band continues onto the dorsal fin as a submarginal band and the second ends abruptly on the dorsal fin. The third orange-yellow band runs from the anal fin origin (where it runs onto the fin as a submarginal band) to the dorsal fin. The fourth and fifth bands are close together on the posterior body and join to completely encircle a black ocellated spot on the soft dorsal fin. The outer part of the ocellus is white to pale blue and the orange-yellow band forms a second ring around the black spot. The sixth band is on the caudal peduncle. The edges of these bands are often bordered by light blue. The dorsal fin is yellowish otherwise, with a blue margin. The anal and pelvic fins are bluish with orange-yellow spots. The head has three blue lines radiating from the eye, alternating with orange-yellow areas. The eye is yellow and blue.
Size
Maximum size to 25mm.
Habitat
Deep reef slope from 45-95m.
Range
Scattered records in the Caribbean Sea: Bahamas, Honduras, Puerto Rico.
References
Gilmore, R.G. and R.S. Jones. 1988. Lipogramma flavescens, a new grammid fish from the Bahama Islands, with description and distributional notes on L. evides and L. anabantoides. Bulletin of Marine Science v. 42 (no. 3): 435-445.
Gilmore, R.G. 1997 Lipogramma robinsi, a new basslet from the tropical western Atlantic, with descriptive and distributional notes on L. flavescens and L. anabantoides (Perciformes: Grammatidae). Bull. Mar. Sci. 60(3):782-788.
Hardy, J.D. 2005. Chapter 121: Grammatidae, p. 1341-1351. In: Richards, W.J. (Ed.). Early Stages of Atlantic Fishes: An Identification Guide for the Western Central North Atlantic. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
Mooi, R.D. 2002. Grammatidae. In: FAO Species Identification Guide to Fishes of the Western Atlantic. (ed. Carpenter K), pp. 1308–1369. UN FAO Publishers, Rome.
Robins, C.R. and P.L. Colin. 1979. Three new grammid fishes from the Caribbean Sea. Bulletin of Marine Science v. 29 (no. 1): 41-52.