Species: Symphurus caribbeanus, Caribbean Tonguefish

Symphurus caribbeanus Munroe, 1991

Caribbean Tonguefish

Body highly compressed, elongate, oval, tapers to pointed tail; head wide and short; snout pointed; eyes small, close together, lower eye smaller and slightly behind upper eye; no cover over pupils; mouth small, arched (strongly on blind side), at front or a little under snout; eye-side lower jaw without fleshy crest; both jaws on eye side without teeth or with them only on front 1/3; preopercle edge covered with skin; dorsal 89-96 rays, origin over or slightly before top eye; anal 74-80 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; dorsal and anal fins without scales on blind side; 78-89 lateral scales; no lateral line.

Top side dark brown to yellowish; ~9-15 narrow, irregularly complete well defined dark bars on body and head; inner lining of operculum heavily pigmented on eye side; entire dorsal and anal pale with alternating dark and clear bars; tail fin clear or with alternating dark and clear bars along its length; lining of gut cavity pale.

Size: 14 cm.

Habitat: sand and mud bottoms.

Depth: 1-29 m.

The Caribbean.