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.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom
- Habitat
-
- Sand & gravel
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Soft bottom only
- Beach
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Demersal
- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
-
- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
-
- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Mobile benthic worms
- Egg Type
-
- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
-
- All species
- Greater Caribbean non-endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- 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)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- IUCN Red List
-
- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Length Max
-
- 23
- Depth Range Min
-
- 0
- Depth Range Max
-
- 45