Species: Opistognathus maxillosus, Mottled jawfish
body: 5-6 dark bars + stripe
D spines stiff, straight, with tabs, front ocellus
Opistognathus maxillosus Poey, 1860
Mottled jawfish
Elongate, compressed, tapering body; large bulbous head; eye large, high; front nostril a short tube with a broad, rounded to branched cirrus; mouth terminal, large, extends well to rear of eye; rear of top jaw rigid, not ending in a thin flexible plate; front of roof of mouth with 0-3 blunt teeth; top jaw with 2+ rows of teeth along front side; 26-33 gill rakers; fin spines flexible; dorsal and anal fins with long bases; dorsal X-XI, spines stiff, tips pointed and usually with pale, slightly swollen fleshy tabs, 14-16; anal II-III, 14-16; pelvic fins I, 5, outer 2 rays stout and unbranched, inner 3 rays weaker and branched, fin base before the pectoral; tail rounded, shorter than head, ~25% of SL; lateral line on front half of body only, high; scales small, smooth, none on head.
Upper head and body yellowish brown, with mottling of thin dark lines; lower head and body white; body and tail base with a checkerboard pattern produced by a dark stripe along midside, crossed by 5-6 dark bars; the dark body bars join 5 black blotches along base of dorsal fin and 3 black blotches along base of anal fin; black blotches on dorsal and anal fin edged with white, rest of both fins grey-brown; tail fin with brownish base sounding 2 white blotches, rest of fin clear; blackish around opening to gut inside mouth.
Reaches 15.3 cm.
Lives in burrows on sand and rubble bottoms.
Depth range: 0-12 m.
The Bahamas to the S Caribbean.
Note: Its Brazilian sister species is O. thionyi.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Soft bottom only
- Sand & gravel
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Bony fishes
- Egg Type
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- Data
- Brooded
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- West Atlantic Endemic
- All species.
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- All species..
- Island (s)
- Continent
- GC endemic
- Continent + Island (s)
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Least concern
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 15.3
- Depth Range Min
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- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 12
