Species: Symphurus plagiusa, Blackcheek Tonguefish

Symphurus plagiusa (Linnaeus, 1766)

Blackcheek Tonguefish

Body highly compressed, elongate, oval, tapers to pointed tail; body relatively deep; snout rounded; eyes small, close together on left side, lower eye smaller; no or a weak cover on pupil; front nostril on blind side a bump; mouth small, arched (strongly on blind side), at front or a little under snout; eye side lower jaw with a fleshy crest; top jaw on eye side usually without teeth; preopercle edge covered with skin; dorsal fin origin ~ above upper eye, 81-91 rays; anal fin 66-75 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 10 rays; scales rough, on both sides; rays of dorsal and anal with 1 row of rough scales on blind-side; large fish with scales along 3/4 of each dorsal and anal ray on eye side; 76-86 lateral scales; no scales over front of eye; no lateral line.

Top side brown, with varying numbers (usually 4-5) of dark crossbars; most fish with a large, conspicuous black spot on top part of operculum on eye side; inside gill chamber dark on both sides; lining of gut cavity pale; blind side yellowish, without dark dots; fins dusky, without spots or blotches .

Size: 23 cm.

Habitat: sand and mud bottoms of estuaries.

Depth: 1-183 (usually 1-30) m.

New York to the Gulf of Mexico; the Bahamas, Cuba