Common Name
Alligator Armored Searobin
Year Described
Miller, 1967
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VIII, 18-20
Anal Fin: 18-20
Pectoral Fin: 11-13 + 2 free rays
Gill Rakers: 5-7+19-26
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 long (= 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. No spine at nostril. Strong spines at base of snout plates. Eye large. Interorbital distance relatively narrow. Anterior edge of first body plate posterior to front edge of pelvic girdle. Two groups of two shorter lip barbels. Chin barbels short; 12-13 in five clusters. Dominant chin barbels moderate 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 pinkish-red with red and golden blotching or faint banding. Faint bands between eyes, pectoral fins, and three bands on the rear body. Belly whitish. Dorsal fins with blackish margins. Pectoral fin pink with the black outer third and a white edge. Caudal fin white grading to red and black with a white edge.
Size
Maximum size to 28cm SL.
Habitat
Found on soft bottoms from 180-1071m.
Range
New England to N. Brazil, including continental Caribbean and gulf of Mexico coasts.
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.