Common Name
Golden Basslet
Year Described
Poey, 1860
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VIII-IX, 12
Anal Fin: III, 8
Pectoral Fin: 14
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Gill Rakers: 14-16 (first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 46-48 (pored)
Vertebrae: 24 (10 precaudal, 14 caudal)
Preopercle not serrated. Opercle with one stout spine. Body and entire head with ctenoid, deciduous scales. Fin membranes scaled. Scales around caudal peduncle number 44. Spiny and soft dorsal fin connected, with a obvious notch. Dorsal, anal and caudal fin with pointed tips to each lobe.
Color
Body bright orange-red to red with a rose head. Scales on the dorsum are almost entirely filled with yellow pigment, making the dorsal half of the body yellow with reticulations of the basal color on scale edges. A broad yellow stripe runs from the snout to the opercle and blends into the dorsum pigmentation. The lower head has more widely separated yellow spots. The fins are bright yellow with rose edging. Juveniles are pale rose with diffuse yellow chromatophores and the yellow eye-stripe.
Size
Maximum size to 112mm SL.
Habitat
One specimen reported on deep reefs at 228m.
Range
Scattered records off the SE U.S., the Bahamas, Cuba, and Curacao
References
Robins, C. R. 1967. The status of the serranid fish Liopropoma aberrans, with the description of a new, apparently related genus. Copeia 1967 (no. 3): 591-595.