Common Name
Spotted Cusk-eel
Year Described
Girard, 1858
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 138-146
Anal Fin: 108-121
Pectoral Fin: 21-23
Caudal Fin: 9
Pelvic Fin: 2
Gill Rakers: 2 rudiments and 4 developed (first arch)
Vertebrae: 15-16 precaudal, 50-52 caudal
Body elongated, with dorsal and ventral sides almost parallel. Head profile rounded to straight (males with bulbous crests). Tail tapering abruptly rearward. Snout overhangs mouth. Eye large. Jaw extends rearward to rear half of orbit. Small villiform teeth in jaws, vomer, and palatine (can be biserial on palatine in larger fish). Snout projecting and shorter than eye diameter. Ethmoid spine directed forward. Opercular spine present. Anal fin origin a little behind dorsal origin. Pectoral fin extends beyond dorsal origin. Pelvic fins long and unequal (longest extends to pectoral base). Scales small, elongate and cycloid, in irregular basketweave pattern. Head and nape without scales.
Color
Body tan to brown with a yellow wash. Three lines of spots along the body: one under dorsal fin, second on lateral line, and third at mid-body. Dark blotches on head and cheek. Usually does not form distinct lines but sometimes spots are fused on the uppermost forming a bumpy line. Dorsal and anal fins with black margins. Pectoral fin pale to dark orangish.
Size
Maximum size to 284mm SL.
Habitat
Found on soft bottoms from 1-55m.
Range
Georgia to the northern Gulf of Mexico to Texas. Reported also from near Veracruz in the SW Gulf.
References
Del Moral-Flores, L. F., J. Rodríguez-González, & M. de Lourdes Jiménez-Badillo. 2022. First report of crested cusk-eel, Ophidion josephi (Actinopterygii: Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae), in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 52, 189-194.
McEachran, J. D. & J. D. Fechhelm 2005. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 2: Scorpaeniformes to Tetraodontiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. i-viii +1-1004.
Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle & C.R. Robins. 1999. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(18):178p. Rome: FAO.
Robins, C.R. & G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354p.
Other Notes
Ophidion welshi is a synonym. The marginatum-josephi species pair needs additional taxonomic work to delimit the two species. There seem to be differences between Gulf and Atlantic coast populations but a broad intergrade along the southeastern U.S.