Common Name
Striped Cusk-eel
Year Described
DeKay, 1842
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 147-158
Anal Fin: 118-124
Pectoral Fin: 21
Caudal Fin: 9
Pelvic Fin: 2
Gill Rakers: 4-5 (first arch lower limb)
Vertebrae: 15 precaudal, 53-54 caudal
Body elongated, with dorsal and ventral sides almost parallel. Head profile rounded to straight in males. 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 and top of head greenish-brown to brown. Cheeks, gill cover, and gut whitish. Three distinct stripes: one under dorsal fin, one on lateral line, and one on mid-side. Dorsal and anal fins with black margins.
Size
Maximum size to 230mm SL.
Habitat
Taken on soft bottoms (0-100m).
Range
New York to the northern Gulf of Mexico.
References
McEachran, J. D. & J. D. Fechhelm 1998. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. 1-1112.