Species: Trichopsetta melasma, Spot-fin sash flounder, Spotfin Sash flounder

front male A: dark blotch
blind-side dusky

pectorals: eye-side > blind-side
Trichopsetta melasma Anderson & Gutherz, 1967
Spot-fin sash flounder
Body oval, depth 39-43% of SL; eyes on left side of head, close together, with a spineless crest between them; snout concave on upper side, deeply notched before top eye; mouth moderate, ends under pupil of lower eye; male with spine on lower jaw, another on snout above top lip, another before front rim of each eye; teeth small, pointed, almost entirely on blind side jaws; 9-11 long, slender lower gill rakers; dorsal rays 98-104; dorsal origin in front of top eye; anal rays 80-85; pectoral fin on both sides, rays not branched, eye side fin longer than blind side fin; eye side pelvic fin with base about equal to that of blind side fin, situated on body midline, its origin slightly behind that of blind-side fin and well behind lower eye; male with greatly elongate blind side pelvic fin; lateral line on eye side only, strongly arched above the pectoral, no branch under lower eye; 84-94 lateral line scales.
Brown; a strong round dark blotch at junction of curved and straight parts of lateral line; blind side dusky; male with dark blotch.at front of anal fin.
Reaches 30 cm.
Soft bottoms.
Depth range: 135-300 m.
SE Florida to the SW Caribbean.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom
- Bottom only
- Habitat
-
- Soft bottom only
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Mud
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Demersal
- Feeding Group
-
- Data
- Carnivore
- Diet
-
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Mobile benthic worms
- Bony fishes
- Data
- Egg Type
-
- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
-
- All species.
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- Continent
- Continent + Island (s)
- Island (s)
- GC endemic
- All species..
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
-
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- IUCN Red List
-
- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Length Max
-
- 30
- Depth Range Min
-
- 135
- Depth Range Max
-
- 300