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Species: Fistularia tabacaria, Bluespotted Cornetfish

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

grey + blue spots
center back: no row bony plates
rear of lateral line: no spines

Fistularia tabacaria Linnaeus, 1758

Bluespotted Cornetfish

Body slender, elongate, square in cross-section, slightly depressed; a very long tubular snout with a short oblique mouth at the end; minute teeth; top and bottom snout ridges smooth in adult, side ridge with small serrations; area between eyes narrow and smooth; dorsal and anal fins short-based, near tail; dorsal fin triangular, 14-16; anal fin same form and size as dorsal fin, 14-15 rays; pectoral 15-17 rays; pelvics 6 rays, on abdomen well behind pectorals; tail fin forked, lobes smaller than dorsal fin, with a long central filament; lateral line arched at front half of body, continues out onto tail filament; without elongate bony plates imbedded in skin along center of back; bony plates on rear part of lateral line without forward pointing spines; skin covered with small spines.

Brown above, lighter below; 2 rows of blue spots on side of snout, 1 along center of back and 1 on each side of back.

Size: 200 cm.

Habitat: usually around reefs and seagrass beds.

Depth: 1-250 m.

Both sides of the Atlantic; Nova Scotia to Brazil.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom + water column
  • Near Bottom
Habitat
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Submerged vegetation
  • Water column
  • Corals
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Demersal
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Bony fishes
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean non-endemic
  • Transatlantic (East+West Atlantic)
Regional Endemism
  • Also in Brazil
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • Extends N + S of GC
  • Extends North of GC
  • Extends South of GC
  • GC non-endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Temperate (>35N)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 200
Depth Range Min
  • 1
Depth Range Max
  • 250