Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

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); nothus: From the Latin 'nothus' meaning false or counterfeit, alludes to the erroneous initial belief that the female holotype was the sexually dimorphic counterpart of O. melachasme males; noun in apposition (Ref. 26893).

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

Marine; demersal; depth range 92 - 100 m (Ref. 26893). Subtropical

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Western Central Atlantic: off North Carolina (USA), Gulf of Mexico, and Cuba.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.9 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26893)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 13; Vertebrae: 28. Anterior nostril a short tube without cirrus on posterior rim; posterior end of maxilla rigid, not produced as a thin flexible lamina; coronoid process of articular hatchet-shaped with dorsal margin straight; vomer edentate; inner lining of maxilla and adjacent membranes with conspicuous black stripe; spinous dorsal fin without an ocellus; segmented dorsal and anal fin rays 14 and 13 respectively; caudal vertebrae 18 (Ref. 26893).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

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: Version 2024-2)

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): 21.5 - 25.8, mean 23.2 °C (based on 5 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).

Opistognathus nothus Smith-Vaniz, 1997