Species: Anableps anableps, Largescale Four-eyes

Anableps anableps (Linnaeus, 1758)

Largescale Four-eyes

Body elongate, rounded at front, compressed at rear; head depressed at front, pointed in side view; eye horizontally divided, raised above of head, with 2 pupils; space between eyes > eye diameter; mouth protractile, at top front, upper jaw longer; teeth simple; nostrils tubular; gill membranes joined under throat (but not fused) to throat; fins without spines; dorsal fin short (7-10), far back on body, well behind anal fin; pectoral fin low on side; pelvic fins on the abdomen, distinctly behind tip of pectoral fin; fertilization internal, male sex organ is formed by first three anal fin rays; scales large, < 64 in lateral series (corner of the operculum to the base of the tail fin).

Pale grey; 7-8 dark grey lines along body and belly; fins dusky.

Size: reaches 30 cm.

Habitat: lives at the surface layer.

Habitat freshwater, and, sometimes, in saline mangrove areas at the mouths of rivers.

Depth: 0-5 m.

Trinidad and the Orinoco delta to the Amazon delta.