Species: Symphurus billykrietei, Chocolatebanded Tonguefish
gut cavity black

Symphurus billykrietei Munroe, 1998
Chocolatebanded Tonguefish
Body highly compressed, elongate, oval, tapers to pointed tail; body relatively deep; snout bluntly rounded; eyes small, longer than wide, with very small space between them; no cover over pupil; mouth small, arched (strongly on blind side), at front or a little under snout; eye-side lower jaw without fleshy crest; both eye-side jaws with 1 row of slender teeth, top jaw sometimes with teeth only along front ¾ of jaw; preopercle edge covered with skin; dorsal fin 89-95 rays; anal 76-84 rays; pectoral fins absent, represented by a fine membrane; only left pelvic fin present, 4 rays, on body midline, joined to anal fin by delicate membrane; dorsal and anal fins confluent with the pointed caudal fin; tail fin 12 rays; scales rough, on both sides; rays of dorsal and anal without scales on blind-side; 80-100 lateral scales; no lateral line.
Top side pale brown, 5-8 irregular dark crossbars, those on rear body usually incomplete; dorsal and anal pale at front, rear part with continuous narrow dark stripe along base of rays and membranes; tail fin with irregular-shaped spot on fin base, rest of fin unpigmented; blind side uniformly yellowish (no dark dots); lining of gut cavity black.
Size: 12.5 cm.
Habitat: mud bottoms.
Depth: 48-650 m, usually 200-380 m.
N Carolina to the Gulf of Mexico.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Soft bottom only
- Mud
- FishBase Habitat
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- Demersal
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
- Mobile benthic worms
- Egg Type
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- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- All species
- Greater Caribbean non-endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- Regional Endemism
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- Continent
- Continent + Island (s)
- Extends North of GC
- GC non-endemic
- Island (s)
- All species
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Temperate (>35N)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- IUCN Red List
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- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 12.5
- Depth Range Min
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- 48
- Depth Range Max
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- 650