Common Name
Threadnose Bass
Year Described
Nichols, 1920
Identification
Dorsal Fin: X, 14-15 (usually 15)
Anal Fin: III, 7-9 (usually 8)
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Pectoral Fin: 19-21 (usually 20)
Lateral Line Scales: 51-57 (tubed)
Gill Rakers: 9-11 in upper, 24-28 in lower limb of first arch; 34-39 total
Fairly slender bodied, head 28-32% SL, and eye large (8-11% SL). Orbit longer than snout. Upper and lower jaws both with small teeth, including enlarged canines. Vomerine patch chevron-shaped, without posterior extension, or reduced to a patch with few teeth. Anterior and posterior nostril further apart than other Anthias spp. (4-5 times in snout length as compared to >7 times in other Anthias). Anterior nostril with a long filament, extending back to orbit. Head and maxilla covered in scales. Lateral line interrupted under soft dorsal fin (separated by non-tubular scales). Obvious notch at boundary of spiny and soft dorsal fin, not to base of fin. Fleshy tabs present on dorsal fin spines. Caudal fin deeply forked, often with short filaments. Pelvic fin rather short (21-32% SL). Scales around caudal peduncle number 25-28.
Color
Red-orange on dorsal surface of head and body, grading to purplish or yellow posteriorly and yellow on lower head. The spiny dorsal fin is red-orange and the soft dorsal is pale to yellowish with greenish spots on the inter-radial membranes. The anal fin is pallid to yellowish with greenish spots on the inter-radial membranes. The caudal fin has bright red dorsal and ventral lobe tips and middle area, with pallid to yellow on the remainder of fin.
Size
Maximum size to 9cm.
Habitat
Deep reefs from 55-915m (usually <150m).
Range
Scattered records from the SE U.S., the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, northern S. America, and off Puerto Rico.
References
Anderson, W. D., Jr. & Heemstra, P. C. 2012. Review of Atlantic and eastern Pacific anthiine fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes: Serranidae), with descriptions of two new genera. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 102 (2): 1-173.
Heemstra, P.C., Anderson, W.D. Jr., and P.S. Lobel. 2002. Serranidae. In: FAO Species Identification Guide to Fishes of the Western Atlantic. (ed. Carpenter K), pp. 1308–1369. UN FAO Publishers, Rome.