Common Name
Blackbar Soldierfish
Year Described
Cuvier, 1829
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XI, 13-15
Anal Fin: IV, 12-13
Pectoral Fin: 14-15
Lateral Line Scales: 34-36
Vertebrae: 26 (total)
Gill Rakers: 27-32
Body stouter than squirrelfishes (Holocentrus & Sargocentron) but less stout than the other soldierfishes in the region. Head with small serrations on suborbital but no strong spines. Snout blunt with a convex frontal profile. Interorbital groove present. Head, preopercle, and opercle relatively smooth with no strong spines. Rear dorsal, anal, and caudal fins pointed. Last dorsal spine longer than second to last spine. Scales obvious.
Color
Body yellowish, pinkish, to bright red, with pink to silvery scale centers forming a reticulated appearance. The ventral half of body is lighter. A dark brown to red bar runs from the upper opercular margin to the base of the pectoral fin. Area adjacent to cheek bar paler than rest of body. Eye with a faint brown cross-bar. Spiny dorsal fin bright red with white tips and random white spots. Soft dorsal, anal, pelvic, and caudal fins with bright red lobes and bright white anterior margins. Rest of fin pale. Pectoral fin with a dark basal blotch.
Size
Maximum size to 25cm SL
Habitat
Inhabits coral reefs from the surface to over 200m. Forms small shoals near recesses.
Range
Southeastern U.S. to Brazil, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
References
McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. 1998. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. i-viii + 1-1112.