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

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.