Genus: Jordanella, Flagfish Pupfish, Flagfishes

JORDANELLA

FLAGFISHES

Body relatively deep and chubby; head flattened; snout short and blunt; front nostril not tubular; covering of eye not continuous with skin of head; mouth wide, oblique, at front, protrusible; teeth 3-pointed; dorsal fin with 1st ray short, thickened and spine-like, short based, 14-18 rays, at mid-body, its origin well before anal fin origin; anal fin with all rays branched, 11-13; pectoral fin short, 14-16 rays, low on side; pelvics small, 6-7 rays, on belly well behind pectoral base; tail fin bluntly rounded, 17-21 principal rays; body with large, smooth scales; head scaly; slightly enlarged scale just behind upper corner of operculum; lateral line reduced to a series of pits along side of body.

The genus contains two species endemic to the Gulf of Mexico.