Species: Microdesmus longipinnis, Pink Wormfish

Microdesmus longipinnis (Weymouth, 1910)

Pink Wormfish

Slender, wormlike, very elongate, body height 4.2-8.1% of SL; snout moderately blunt; small, conspicuous eyes on side of head; interorbital about equal to eye diameter; front nostril a flared tube; rear nostril a pore with raised rim; mouth strongly oblique, lower jaw heavy, protruding, upper jaw extends to middle of eye; teeth in 2 irregular rows; tongue rounded; gill opening large (not tubular), at base of pectoral fin; one, long based continuous dorsal fin, XIX-XXII, 45-53, fin originates in front of tip of depressed pectoral fin; anal fin 0, 37-48, origin under dorsal elements 25-31; dorsal and anal fins connected to tail fin by low membrane; pelvic fins minute, I, 3 rays; tail fin rounded; body sparsely covered with minute, embedded, well separated scales; no lateral line.

Uniform pink-tan.

Reaches: 27.0 cm.

Habitat: Burrows in shallow muddy and sandy bottoms.Often found in Callianasid shrimp burrows.

Depth: 5-10 m.

North Carolina to the S Caribbean; Brazil.