Common Name
Ocellated Spikefish
Year Described
Myers, 1934
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VI, 15
Anal Fin: 13
Pectoral Fin: 13-15
Pelvic Fin: I, 1-2
Gill Rakers: 21-24 (first arch)
Ventral surface of pelvis very flat and tapering posteriorly (all other Atlantic species rounded).
Color
Body pale yellowish with darker blotches on the dorsum. A large black ocellus is present under the second dorsal fin ringed in white. A smaller black spot is often present posterior to this spot.
Size
Maximum size to 16cm SL.
Habitat
Found near the bottom from 183-549m.
Range
Scattered records from the western Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas, off Puerto Rico, Tobago, and off Cuba.
References
Matsuura, K. 2002. Triacanthidae (pp 1960-1962). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and sea mammals. FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5.
Tyler, J. C. 1966. A new species of triacanthodid Plectognath fish from the Caribbean, Hollardia meadi. Notulae Naturae (Philadelphia) No. 382: 1-8.
Woods, L. P. 1959. Parahollardia schmidti, a new triacanthodid fish from the western Caribbean. Copeia 1959 (no. 3): 222-225.