Common Name
Armored Searobin
Year Described
Goode, 1880
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VII-VIII, 17-18
Anal Fin: 17-19
Pectoral Fin: 11-13 + 2 free rays
Gill Rakers:
Body elongate and flattened ventrally, with four rows of thick, heavy scales forming an armor-like covering. Head wide and triangular, tapering gradually rearward. Head with flattened duck-bill snout about the width of eyes and squared-off at tip. Rostral projections short (3-4 times in snout length), slender, and slightly divergent. Head heavily armored. Edges of snout and head with spines and strong undulations. Edge of head expanded greatly into a noticeable pointed shelf but no strong spines. Strong spines at base of snout plates and nostrils. Eye large. Interorbital distance relatively wide. Anterior edge of first body plate posterior to front edge of pelvic girdle. Two lip barbels. Chin barbels number 8-9 in 4-5 clusters. Clusters contain a mix of long and short barbels. Dominant chin barbels very long (21-31% SL) and heavily branched. Dorsal fins separated: the first small and second long-based. Anal fin about the same length as dorsal fin. Pectoral fins small and fan-like with two long free rays that are used to interact/crawl along the seafloor. Pelvic fins small and widely separated under pectoral base. Caudal fin truncate.
Color
Head and body orange-red with red markings and reticulations along body armor. Belly whitish. Dominant barbels red and white. Dorsal fins with broad red to black margins. Caudal fin red, sometimes with a black margin. Pectoral fin whitish to pink with a dark red to blackish outer half. Eye white to golden.
Size
Maximum size to 35cm SL.
Habitat
Found on soft bottoms from 64-914m.
Range
Nova Scotia to S. Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the continental Caribbean.
References
Miller, G.C. & W.J. Richards. 2003. Peristediidae. Armoured searobins (armoured gurnards). p. 1278-1285. In: K.E. Carpenter (ed.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae).
Teague, G.W. 1961. The armored sea-robins of America, a revision of the American species of the family Peristediidae. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Montevideo (Serie 2) v. 7 (no. 2): 1-27, 2 pls. + Pls. 1-3.