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Teleostei (teleosts) > Ovalentaria/misc (Various families in series Ovalentaria) > Opistognathidae (Jawfishes)
Etymology: Opistognathus: Greek, opisthe = behind + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335); to the very elongate upper jaw of the type species of the genus, Opistognathus nigromarginatus (Ref. 128653); signatus: From the Latin 'signatus' meaning marked, in reference to the prominent dark scale spots (Ref. 26893).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 27 - 68 m (Ref. 26893). Tropical

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Western Central Atlantic: Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 8.9 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26893)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10 - 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 17; Anal spines: 2 - 3; Anal soft rays: 16 - 17; Vertebrae: 29 - 30. Anterior nostril a short tube simple cirrus on posterior rim; posterior end of maxilla of adult males produced as a thin flexible lamina that usually extends beyond posterior margin of opercle; spinous dorsal fin with black spot encircled by broad whit ring; adult males with inner lining of maxilla and adjacent membranes with prominent black stripe (stripe usually absent or light brown and poorly developed in females); buccal pigmentation consisting of a large dark area widely surrounding esophageal opening, including medial area between upper pharyngeal tooth patches; caudal vertebrae 19 or 20, usually 20 (Ref. 26893).

Known only from coastal waters (Ref. 26893).

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Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Smith-Vaniz, W.F., 1997. Five new species of jawfishes (Opistognathus: Opistognathidae) from the western Atlantic ocean. Bull. Mar. Sci. 60(3):1074-1128. (Ref. 26893)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 23 August 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 24.4 - 27.6, mean 26.9 °C (based on 10 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

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Opistognathus signatus Smith-Vaniz, 1997