Species: Opistognathus megalepis, Largescale Jawfish

Opistognathus megalepis Smith-Vaniz, 1972

Largescale Jawfish

Elongate, compressed, tapering body; large bulbous head; eye large, high; front nostril a short tube, without a cirrus; mouth terminal, large, extends well behind eye, its rear end straight, rigid, without a thin, flexible extension; top jaw not sexually dimporphic; gill rakers 28-36; fin spines flexible; dorsal and anal fins with long bases; dorsal XI-XII, 11-12, spines with tips flexible, curved, slender; anal III, 11; pelvic fins I, 5, fin base before the pectoral; tail rounded, much shorter than head; lateral line on front half of body only, high; scales small, smooth; cheeks often scaled; body scaled, 32-42 lateral scale rows.

Head, body and fins yellow, with a light greenish brown cast; rear 1/3 of anal fin brown; rear of tail fin brown; front of dorsal fin brown, rear of fin with brown border; inside mouth pale

Reaches 5.6 cm.

Lives on sand & rubble bottoms.

Depth range: 79-301 m.

The Bahamas to the NW and SE Caribbean.