Species: Chilomycterus reticulatus, Spotfin Burrfish

Chilomycterus reticulatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Spotfin Burrfish

Body rotund, can be inflated; head wide and blunt; eyes large; nasal organ an open pitted cup (in juveniles a tentacle with 2 openings); teeth fused into a strong, parrot-like beak with two plates that lack a front groove, large, opens widely at front; gill opening a vertical slit before pectoral base; pectorals large; fins without spines; no pelvic fins; dorsal rays 12-14; anal rays 11-14; pectoral rays 19-22; tail fin with 10 rays; body and head covered with relatively few,short (< eye), fixed, 3-rooted spines (4 roots on head) that are triangular and flattened in cross-section, and, in some cases reduced to plates under skin, ~ 8-10 in an approximate row from snout to dorsal fin; top of tail base with 1-2 spines.

Grey on back grading to whitish ventrally; scattered black spots on head and upper body; small dark spots on median fins; also several diffuse, dusky brown bars on head and body; no thin dark lines on body. Juvenile: similar to adult, but with a blue cast to body, body spots larger and sparser, fin spots restricted to fin bases.

Size: grows to about 75 cm; the young lead a pelagic existence until about 20 cm.

Inhabits coral and rocky reefs, but also trawled on soft bottoms.

Depth: 1-141 m.

Circumtropical and with a largely temperate distribution; N Carolina to Brazil.