Species: Gillellus greyae, Arrow Stargazer

Gillellus greyae Kanazawa, 1952

Arrow Stargazer

Body compressed, tapering to tail; head moderate size; tubular nostrils; eyes on top of head, not on stalks, with a ring of flaps at their tips; mouth upturned, with a protruding lower jaw, 5-11 (4-16) skin flaps on lower lip, none on top lip; upper part of operculum with a frill of skin flaps; dorsal fin in 2 sections, 1st section a finlet of III spines with origin on nape, sometimes 1-2 free spines behind this, then main fin, XVIII-XX spines, 20-24 soft rays; 31-35 anal soft rays; pelvic fins inserted under throat, each with I, 3, rays thickened and free at the tips; lateral line bends down just behind spiny section of dorsal fin; 22-23 scales on arched section of lateral line, 22-25 on straight section, total scales 50-58; scales large, smooth, head and underbelly behind pelvic fins scaleless.

Pale, with 6 narrow dark bars on upper back down to midline, from nape to tail fin base, 1st bar through front of dorsal fin and edge of operculum, with incomplete secondary bars in between those; a dark bar between eyes extending down below them; top of head with irregular blotching.

Reaches 9.8 cm.

Lives in sand in seagrass beds and mixed in with boulders and coral.

Depth range: 1-27 m.

Bermuda to Brazil.