Common Name
Cave Basslet
Year Described
Woods & Kanazawa, 1951
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VIII, 12.5
Anal Fin: III, 8
Pectoral Fin: 13
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Gill Rakers: 16 (first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 47
Vertebrae: 24 (10 precaudal, 14 caudal)
Body elongate, compressed, and robust. Head pointed. Forehead profile straight. Eye moderate to large. Mouth extends to rear half of orbit. Lower jaw projects. Rear corner of maxilla with a blunt ventral projection. Preopercle serrated. Opercle with one stout middle spine and two accessory spines. Spiny and soft dorsal fins appear well separated, with 6th and 7th spine very short. Dorsal, anal and caudal fin with rounded tips. Caudal peduncle strong. Tail slightly forked with rounded lobes. Body and entire head with small ctenoid, deciduous scales. Fin membranes scaled.
Color
Body salmon-pink to orange, with a bright yellow stripe anterior to eye running to tip of snout. Caudal fin body colored with a thick black submarginal and a white marginal edging. Small black blotches on the second dorsal and the anal fins. These blotches are surrounded by white. Eye is golden.
Size
Maximum size to 90mm SL.
Habitat
Mesophotic on deep reefs and walls (24-148m).
Range
North Carolina to the S. Caribbean Sea.
References
Randall, J. E. 1963. Three new species and six new records of small serranoid fishes from Curaçao and Puerto Rico. Studies on the Fauna of Curacao and other Caribbean Islands v. 19 (no. 80): 77-110, Pls. 1-3.
Other Notes
The genus Chorististium had been erected in the past for these smaller Liopropoma with more separated dorsal fins (rubre, carmabi, mowbrayi, eukrines in our area). The genus Pikea was used for larger Liopropoma with notched but noticeably connected dorsal fins (aberrans, olneyi, santi in our area). Recent phylogenetic work shows Liopropoma is paraphyletic with the inclusion of Bathyanthias in the phylogeny, so they will eventually all be lumped into Liopropoma or several new genera will be proposed for the different clades.