Common Name
Mooneye Cusk-eel
Year Described
Robins & Böhlke, 1959
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 132-140
Anal Fin: 123-129
Pectoral Fin: 15-16
Caudal Fin: 9
Pelvic Fin: 2
Gill Rakers: 7 (first arch)
Vertebrae: 79 (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 (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. Scales widely separated leaving large areas of exposed skin.
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 93.3mm SL.
Habitat
Found on sandy bottoms in fairly shallow waters (>20m) but one specimen taken over 300m.
Range
South Carolina to the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
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.