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Species: Kathetostoma cubanum, Cuban Stargazer

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

upper body mottled
C central dark bar
pectoral brown, edge white

Kathetostoma cubanum Barbour, 1941

Cuban Stargazer

Body elongate, thick, tapering to rear; head large, square, top horizontal, some of bones with spines; eye large, on top of head; mouth large, vertical, lips with fringe of papillae; chin without converging bony ridges; front nostril a short tube, with a branched tentacle at its rear edge; rear nostril a pore before eye; preopercle with 3 spines on its lower corner; a large venomous spine at upper edge of operculum; dorsal fin at rear, without spines; 14-15 rays; anal 0, 13; tail rounded; pectoral broad, rounded, 17-18 rays; pelvics narrow; no scales.

Black, greenish-brown, yellowish-brown to grey above; white to yellowish-white below; upper surface with dark marbling; dorsal fin yellow-brown with an indistinct dark blotch at front; pectoral grey-brown, with rear edge white; pelvics and anal whitish in young, reddish in adults; tail fin white, with a dark central bar.

Size: 33 cm.

Habitat: benthic on soft bottoms.

Depth range: 100-710 m, usually well below 100 m.

Georgia to the S Caribbean.


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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
  • Mud
FishBase Habitat
  • Bathydemersal
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Bony fishes
  • Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • GC 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
  • 33
Depth Range Min
  • 100
Depth Range Max
  • 710