Species: Lipogramma regia, Royal Basslet

Lipogramma regia Robins & Colin, 1979

Royal Basslet

Elongate, compressed body; eye large, snout short; mouth at front; teeth on jaws, front and sides of roof of mouth; preopercle edge smooth; opercle with a flat projection; gill rakers long 14; dorsal fin XII, 9; anal fin III, 8; pectorals rounded, 15; pelvics I, 5, with 1st ray elongated, reaching past anal fin base; tail fin slightly forked, with rounded tips; 3 short, thick and spiny rays on upper and lower base of tail fin; no lateral line; 25-29 lateral scales.

Head yellow-orange to yellow, with blue stripes – from eye to snout, 1 between rear of eyes, 3 back from eye across cheek and operculum; iris gold, eye ringed with blue; body with a series of 6 blue bars alternating with orange to yellow bars – 1 under origin of dorsal fin, 1 under middle of spiny dorsal, 1 under end of spiny dorsal, and 4 behind that; white between 1st pair of bars; an eye-sized blue-ringed black ocellus at lower rear of dorsal fin and extending onto upper body; basal ½ of dorsal and anal fins dark, margin of each fin dark, with an orange to yellow stripe under it; tail fin pale, with the last dark body bar extending onto its base; pelvics with blue rays.

Reaches 2.5 cm.

Lives on deep reefs.

Depth range: 45-116 m.

Gulf of Mexico to the NW and NE Caribbean.