Species: Diplogrammus pauciradiatus, Spotted dragonet
Diplogrammus pauciradiatus (Gill, 1865)
Spotted dragonet
Squat, stout bodied, somewhat depressed, tadpole shaped; body with a keel of skin along its lower edge on each side, from belly to tail fin base; a small mouth that angles down when open, with a protrusible top jaw; preoperculum with a large, broad-based spine with a three-pointed, upturned tip, but no spines or the operculum; gill openings small and high on the shoulder; two dorsal fins, IV flexible spines + 6 soft rays, spines very long and ending in filaments in male; anal fin with 4 rays and no spines; pectorals large, rounded; pelvics insert under preopercular spine, large, reach past anal fin origin in males; tail fin long, pointed; lateral line complete, extends onto tail fin; no scales.
Pale tan, heavily spotted and mottled; skin keel along lower edge of body with a row of dark spots; belly with dark reticulations in male; skin keel along lower edge of body with a row of dark spots; male usually with a dark bar across mouth and a dark diagonal bar across eye & orange blotches on head; fleshy membrane connecting rear edge of pelvics to midline of origin of pectorals with metallic dark rings; throat with small open and solid circles.
Reaches 6 cm; females to about half size of males.
Lives associated with seagrass beds.
Depth range: 1-10 m.
N Carolina to the S Caribbean.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine Only
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Soft bottom only
- Sand & gravel
- Submerged vegetation
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- 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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- Pelagic larva
- Data
- Pelagic
- Global Endemism
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- Greater Caribbean endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- All species.
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent
- Extends North of GC
- GC endemic
- Island (s)
- All species..
- Continent + Island (s)
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Least concern
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 6
- Depth Range Min
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- 1
- Depth Range Max
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- 10
