Species: Kathetostoma cubanum, Cuban Stargazer

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.