Species: Achirus achirus, Drab Sole

Achirus achirus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Drab Sole

Body oval; eyes small (2.1-3.6% SL), on right side; snout rounded; front margin of head with short tentacles; mouth small, oblique, a little under snout; lips fleshy; rear edge of preopercle covered with skin, visible as a superficial groove; gill openings wide, united before pelvic fins; an opening connects gill chambers on both sides; dorsal origin ~ above eye dorsal rays 59-68; anal rays 43-51; pelvic on eye side fused to anal fin; eye-side pectoral rays 3-4 (0-5), blind side usually with 1 pectoral ray ; lateral line from head to tail, straight, with perpendicular branches running across body; body covered with rough scales, and clusters of cirri; .body cirri long and filamentous in small fish, fewer and shorter in larger, disappearing in the largest individuals; underside of mouth and front dorsal fin rays with well developed cirri.

Eye-side dark brownish grey with ~8 dark lines across body, plus scattered small spots and irregular dark blotches where there are clusters of filaments.

Size: to 37 cm.

Inhabits sand-mud bottoms in estuaries, also into freshwater.

Depth: 1-20 m.

The Gulf of Paria to the mouth of the Amazon river.