Species: Bembrops quadrisella, Saddleback duckbill, Saddleback flathead
D2: black front base + white stripes
C: rear & bottom edges dark, female top base- ocellus
top jaw tentacle short
Bembrops quadrisella Thompson & Suttkus, 1998
Saddleback duckbill
Body relatively robust; head depressed; snout short (=/>eye); eye large, above, close-set; lower jaw strongly projecting, often with lower teeth exposed; top jawbone with a short (2.1 (1.4-2.7)% SL) rear tentacle; jaw teeth simple; teeth present on center and sides of roof of mouth; gill rakers 20 (19-23); 2 diverging spines at top of operculum, a 3rd at lower corner, with an elongate flap behind it, preoperculum with 2 broad spines at its angle; two dorsal fins, VI (front spines crowded), 2nd spine not elongate in male + 16 (15-17) anal fin 0, 18 (16-19); pectoral fin long and wide, 26-27 (25-28)rays; pelvic fins I, 5, under operculum, wide between those fins; tail fin straight, with 10-11 branched rays; scales rough on head and body; lateral line arched at front; a spine at front of lateral line, a prominent keel on first few lateral line scales; lateral line 60-61 (57-65) scales; no scales on top surface of eye.
Upper body with 4 wide black saddles between origin of dorsal fin and end of tail base; 1st dorsal fin with a black spot at base of 1st membrane, a black stripe near the outer margin with triangular extensions down onto membranes 1 & 2, scattered dark dots over much of rest of membrane; 2nd dorsal fin with dusky membranes, white stripes and some black at base of front membrane; tail fin of female with ocellus on upper fin base, of male with rear and bottom margins dark; anal fin of female with white pigment on membranes, outer ½-2/3 of fin black.
Reaches 26.8 cm.
On the bottom.
Depth range: 290-914 m.
Central Caribbean to Suriname.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom only
- Bottom
- Habitat
-
- Mud
- Soft bottom only
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Bathydemersal
- Feeding Group
-
- Carnivore
- Data
- Diet
-
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Data
- Bony fishes
- Egg Type
-
- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
-
- All species.
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- Continent + Island (s)
- Island (s)
- Extends South of GC
- GC endemic
- All species..
- Continent
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
-
- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- IUCN Red List
-
- Not evaluated / Listed
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Depth Range Max
-
- 914
- Depth Range Min
-
- 290
- Length Max
-
- 26.8
