Species: Kyphosus bigibbus, Darkfin Sea Chub, Gray Sea Chub

Kyphosus bigibbus Lacepede, 1801

Darkfin Sea Chub, Gray Sea Chub

Body oval, compressed; small pointed head; snout relatively short, no distinct hump before eye; mouth small, opens at front, slightly oblique; the top jawbone slips partially under the under-eye bone when the mouth is closed; teeth immovable incisiform, bases set horizontally in mouth, rounded tips and a curved, hockey-stick shape; teeth on center of roof of mouth and on tongue; gill rakers 22 (19-23 = 5-8+13-17); dorsal fin continuous, XI spines that fold down into a scaly groove, 11-12 rays; tail fin forked, but not deeply; anal rays III, 10-12; soft dorsal and anal fins moderately high; anal fin with long base (18.1-24.8% SL), a line drawn along its lower edge of soft fin extending back along upper edge of tail fin; pectoral fin relatively short (13.6-21.3% SL); origin of the pelvics behind the base of the pectoral fin; scales small, thick and rough, covering the body & head (except forward of eyes) and soft portions of the median fins; scales present between eyes; lateral line scales 61-76, 51-60 with pores; longitudinal scales 54-70 (the row from the edge of the operculum to the end of the tail base, where it lies immediately under the lateral line scale row); cheek scales 9-16.

Plain grey to brownish, silvery below, back with bronze to greenish tone, body with weak dark stripes; cheek and area below eye usually with a whitish streak; dorsal & anal fins often dark, soft parts with black edges; dark patch sometimes present at lower rear corner of pectoral fin base; tail fin often dark.

Size: attains 60 cm.

Habitat: rocky areas, coral reefs.

Depth: 0-40 m?

The Indo-central Pacific and scattered localities in the east, central and NW Atlantic; known fromBermuda to the southern Caribbean; also in Brazil

Note: Easily confused with K. sectatrix, the Bermuda sea-chub (also known as the beaked sea-chub). However, K. sectatrix has more gill rakers (26 (23-38)), and does not have dark fins.