Species: Lucifuga simile, Blind Cave Brotula

Lucifuga simile Nalbant, 1981

Blind Cave Brotula

Body elongate, tapering to a narrow tail base; head deep at rear, snout depressed, forehead profile straight; top of head cavernous; eyes tiny (<0.3% of SL) or not visible externally; sides of roof of mouth with ~25 small granular teeth; top jawbone vertically expanded at rear, a small downpointing knob near lower rear corner; no central tooth patch at bottom of gill arches; gill rakers 18, only 3 developed, with rounded tips; no spine at lower angle of preopercle; dorsal fin 70-78 rays; anal fin 57-64; tail fin 8 rays, fin connected at its base to dorsal and anal fins; pectoral base broader than long, pectoral 11-16; anal fin origin behind midpoint of body; lateral line in 2 parts, shorter front part on upper side, lower part along midside, 12 + 20-24 pores; body covered with regularly overlapping scales; head partly scaled, no scales at top rear of head; male penis without bone-reinforced pseudoclaspers.

Color whitish pink, without pigment; long gill rakers pale.

Reaches 8 cm.

Lives in caves; freshwater to brackish water.

Depth range: 0-20 m.

Known only from Matanzas, W Cuba.

Note: Three other Lucifuga species are known from freshwater in Cuba, all with 8 tail fin rays: L. dentata (gill rakers 15-21, dorsal rays 83-95, anal rays 69-78, pectoral rays 15-17), L. subterranea (gill rakers 14-15, dorsal rays 80-86, anal rays 61-66, pectoral rays 12-14) and L. teresinarum (gill rakers 13-14, dorsal rays 78-80, anal rays 61-64, pectoral rays 10-11).