Species: Eucinostomus lefroyi, Mottled Mojarra

Eucinostomus lefroyi (Goode, 1874)

Mottled Mojarra

Body very slender, fusiform, compressed, depth 27.8-32.3% of SL; eye large; the lower profile of the head distinctively concave; the mouth is highly extensible, pointing downward when protruded; jaws appear toothless but have tiny, brush-like teeth; lower border of preopercle smooth; bone under front of eye with smooth border; margin of bone under eye and of preopercle smooth; 7 lower gill rakers; dorsal fin IX, 10, 2nd spine </= distance between tip of snout and rear of eye, last spine short (5.8-7.1% of SL); pectoral not reaching to anal fin origin; anal rays II, 8, spines weak, 2nd spine short, < height of tail base, 1st ray branched; tail fin deeply forked; scales large, conspicuous and finely rough, covering most of head and body; dorsal and anal fins fold into a high scaly sheath along their bases; pectorals without scales; scales extend before front of eye on top of snout around scaleless groove that is neither constricted on each side at front by scales, nor crossed by a row scales at front; lateral line scales 44-46.

Silvery; 6 wavy oblique bars (angled down and forwards) that join 8 dark blotches along mid-side, the last 2 on tail base are the darkest; tip of spiny dorsal usually clear, tail dusky.

Grows to 23 cm.

On high energy sand bottoms; not in estuaries or brackish water.

Depth: 0-45 m.

N Carolina to NE Brazil.