Common Name
Letter Opener Cusk-eel
Year Described
Robins & Böhlke, 1959
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 144-153
Anal Fin: 132-139
Pectoral Fin: 14-17
Caudal Fin: 9
Pelvic Fin: 2
Gill Rakers: 7 (first arch)
Vertebrae: 84-87 (total)
Body elongated and slender and dorsal and ventral sides almost parallel. Head profile rounded. Tail tapering abruptly rearward. Eye large and directly slightly upward. Jaw extends rearward to rear half of orbit. Small villiform teeth in jaws, vomer, and palatine. 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. Scales close bunched but not usually overlapping.
Color
Mostly translucent and pallid in color with no markings. There is often a dark anchor-shaped marking on the top of the head running to the dorsal fin. Gut and eye are silvery.
Size
Maximum size to 84mm SL. Mature females as small as 59mm.
Habitat
Found strictly on sandy bottoms in very shallow water (<20m). Found mostly in the vicinity of seagrass beds.
Range
The Bahamas to the Lesser Antilles.
References
Robins, C. R. & J. E. Böhlke. 1959. Studies on fishes of the family Ophidiidae. IV. Two new dwarf cusk-eels (genus Ophidion) from the tropical western Atlantic. Notulae Naturae (Philadelphia) No. 325: 1-9.