Common Name
Threelined Basslet
Year Described
Randall, 1963
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XII, 10
Anal Fin: III, 7
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Pectoral Fin: 15
Caudal Rays (segmented): 19
Gill Rakers: 15 total
Vertebrae: 10 precaudal, 15 caudal; 25 total
Lateral Scale Rows: 29-30
Moderately elongate with a pointed snout. Mouth reaches slightly beyond anterior of orbit. Lateral line absent. Preopercular margin smooth. Outer procurrent caudal rays thickened.
Color
Head bright yellow, body with blue-gray scale edges and yellow centers. Lower head and pelvic region of body pale gray to lavender. Cheek often pink. Three blue stripes edged in black on head: one on nape from snout to dorsal origin, one through upper eye running on upper side fading posteriorly, and one short stripe through lower eye. Spiny portion of dorsal fin yellow with a blue submarginal band. Soft dorsal fin blue with yellow spots. Anal and pelvic fins blue with yellow spots. Caudal fin yellow with blue speckles along the fin rays.
Size
Maximum size to 35.5mm.
Habitat
Deep reefs, ledges and drop-offs from 24-100m.
Range
Caribbean Sea: SE Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Colombia, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Curacao.
References
Bohlke, J.E. and C.C.G. Chaplin. 1993. Fishes of the Bahamas and adjacent tropical waters. Second edition. Austin, University of Texas Press, 771 p.
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). Bulletin of Marine Science v. 60 (no. 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.