Species: Brotula barbata, Atlantic Bearded Brotula, Bearded Brotula

Brotula barbata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Atlantic Bearded Brotula, Bearded Brotula

Body elongate, relatively deep, compressed, tapering to rear; eye large; front nostril halfway between top lip and rear nostril; snout and lower jaw each with 3 pairs of barbels; mouth large; no tooth patch at lower front of gill arches; small pointed teeth in bands on jaws and roof of mouth; operculum with a spine; gill openings large, membranes not joined under throat; pointed tail fin continuous with dorsal and anal; dorsal fin origin before anal fin origin; each pelvic fin is a 2-rayed filament, origin under throat, well behind eye; scales small, smooth, slightly overlapping, on head and completely covering body.

Body uniform olive brown to reddish brown; sometimes spotted or freckled.

Size: to ~100 cm.

Inhabits juveniles on shallow reefs, adults benthopelagic in deep water, on and over soft bottoms.

Depth: 1-650 m.

Tropical E & W Atlantic; S Carolina to Brazil.