Common Name
Pyramid Armored Searobin
Year Described
Teague, 1961
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VIII, 16-19
Anal Fin: 18-21
Pectoral Fin: 12 + 2 free rays
Gill Rakers: 3-4+23-24
Body elongate and flattened ventrally, with four rows of thick, heavy scales forming an armor-like covering. Head very wide and triangular, tapering gradually rearward. Head with flattened duck-bill snout about the width of eyes and squared-off at tip. Rostral projections very short (<3 times in snout length), blunt and slightly divergent (snout looks notched). Head heavily armored. Edges of snout and head with small spines and undulations. Edge of head expanded greatly, forming a noticeable shelf on the cheek but not a strong spine. No spine at nostril. Strong spine at base of snout plates. Eye large. Interorbital distance relatively wide. Anterior edge of first body plate posterior to front edge of pelvic girdle. Five lip barbels in three clusters. Chin barbels short; 11-13 in 4-5 clusters. Dominant chin barbels long and heavily branched. Dorsal fins separated: the first small and second long-based. Anal fin about the same length as dorsal fin. Pectoral fins very small and fan-like with two longer free rays that are used to interact/crawl along the seafloor. Pelvic fins small and widely separated under pectoral base. Caudal fin truncate.
Color
Body and head whitish with scattered red and yellowish blotches and reticulations. Belly whitish. Dorsal fins with dark red to black margins. Pectoral fins red to blackish. Caudal fin reddish. Eye reddish with yellow ring around pupil.
Size
Maximum size to 24cm SL.
Habitat
Soft bottoms from 325-1080m
Range
Virginia to S. Brazil.
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.