Species: Rypticus randalli, Randall's soapfish
D II-III, 23-25
Rypticus randalli Courtenay, 1967
Randall's soapfish
Body elongate, very compressed; forehead oblique; snout short, 5-6% SL; 2 pairs of nostrils, anterior tubular; lower jaw projecting; rear of top jaw exposed when mouth closed, without accessory bone above it; no knob at front of chin; pores on lower jaw & preopercle few, large, single; simple teeth in bands on jaws; 1-3 spines on preopercle; 2 (2-3) spines on operculum; gill opening restricted above, most of upper part of operculum bound to body by skin; gill rakers 7-11; dorsal fin II-III (usually II), 23-25; anal fin 0, 14-16; pectoral rays 14-17; median fins thick, fleshy; rounded tail and pectoral fins; scales imbedded.
Head and body brown, with blue-grey cast, paler below; small fish with a cream stripe along midline from tip of mouth to last dorsal fin spine.
Size: to 21.5 cm.
Inhabits silty rocky areas and soft bottoms, from areas of reduced salinity to hypersaline lagoons.
Depth: 0-52 m.
The Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Brackish
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom
- Habitat
-
- Reef and soft bottom
- Rocks
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Estuary
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Mangrove
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- Demersal
- Feeding Group
-
- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
-
- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Bony fishes
- Egg Type
-
- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- Greater Caribbean non-endemic
- All species.
- West Atlantic Endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- All species..
- Continent
- GC non-endemic
- Continent + Island (s)
- Extends South of GC
- Continental primarily
- Island (s)
- Also in Brazil
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Least concern
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 21.5
- Depth Range Min
-
- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 52
