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Species: Chrionema squamentum, Scaly-chinned Duckbill, Scalychin Flathead

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

top jaw: no rear tentacle
D2 15
LL 50-58
gill rakers 21-24
yellow marks: head, body, fins
most of snout, lower jaw & throat scaled

Chrionema squamentum (Ginsburg, 1955)

Scalychin Flathead, Scaly-chinned Duckbill

Head depressed; eye large, above, close-set; lower jaw strongly projecting; rear of top jawbone without a tentacle; jaw teeth simple; teeth present on center and sides of roof of mouth; opercle with 2 spines; gill rakers 21-24; two dorsal fins, VI (front spines crowded) + 15-16; anal fin 0, 23-25; pectoral fin long and wide, 22-30 rays; pelvic fins I, 5, under operculum, wide between those fins; tail fin with 10-11 branched rays; scales rough on head and body; lateral line arched at front; a spine at front of lateral line, first few lateral line scales with a prominent keel; most of snout and under jaws scaled; lateral line 50-58 scales.

Pale tan; a series of oval brown blotches overlaid with yellow along lower side, large and small blotches alternating and the spots becoming smaller towards the rear; back with another row of irregular brown and yellow blotches; head pale tan, with yellow marks, a dark blotch under eye, 2 oblique elongate yellow blotches at beginning and end of upper opercle; 2 yellow marks along side of nape, iris black, with an inner yellow ring; 1st dorsal fin with yellow along its base, tip white; 2nd dorsal with a yellow base, yellow spots along outer fin, ray tips white; tail fin whitish, a round yellow spot in the center of its base, yellow streaks along the upper and lower borders; anal fin white with yellow outer edge, or translucent with a white border; pelvics with white outer edge.

Reaches 11 cm.

Lives on mud and sand bottoms.

Depth range: 115-305 m.

North Carolina to the southern Caribbean.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom only
Habitat
  • Rocks
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Mud
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Bathydemersal
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Bony fishes
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • Extends North of GC
  • GC endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Temperate (>35N)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 11
Depth Range Min
  • 115
Depth Range Max
  • 305