Species: Stellifer chaoi, Chao Stardrum

mouth large, oblique, opens at front
gill rakers long, 43-49, 1st arch dark
scales atop head smooth + 1-2 rows rough on center nape
Stellifer chaoi Aguilera & Solano & Valdez, 1983
Chao Stardrum
Body elongate, more or less compressed; head large, low and broad, skull cavernous, translucent, spongy to touch, wide between eyes; mouth moderately large, oblique, opens at front; chin with 4 pores, no barbels; snout with 8 pores; preopercle with 3-4 prominent bony spines at angle, 3-5 small ones above those; gill rakers long and slender, 43-49, longest raker >filament at angle of gill arch; top corner of gill opening notched; deep notch between spiny and soft parts of dorsal fin, X-XII + I, 19-23; anal fin with short base II, 8-9, 2nd spine long and thick; tail fin with a blunt point; pored lateral line scales 46-49; scales mainly rough on body, mainly smooth on head, 1-2 rows rough on center of nape; soft dorsal and anal fins covered with smooth scales; the lateral line extends to the center of the end of the tail fin.
Silvery grey with yellow reflections; pectorals, pelvics and anal pale to blackish; a dark band at front behind teeth; 1st gill arch dark.
Reaches 13 cm.
Shallow coastal sand and mud bottoms, including estuaries.
Depth range: 3-20 m.
Panama to Venezuela.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Brackish
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Sand & gravel
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Soft bottom only
- Estuary
- Mud
- FishBase Habitat
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- Demersal
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Egg Type
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- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- All species
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- Caribbean endemic
- Continent
- Continent only
- GC endemic
- All species
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- IUCN Red List
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- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 13
- Depth Range Min
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- 3
- Depth Range Max
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- 20