Genus: Emmelichthyops, Bonnetmouth Grunt, Bonnetmouths

EMMELICHTHYOPS
BONNETMOUTHS
Elongate, rounded fusiform body; snout about eye length; mouth small, opens at front, top jaw highly protrusible, covered by bone under eye when mouth is closed, scaleless; no teeth on jaws or roof of mouth; 2 large pores on chin; preoperculum coarsely serrated, its corner extended and rounded; operculum with a broad, flat spine at rear; gill rakers long and slender; pectoral inserts high on flank, pointed; pelvic inserts just behind pectoral base; dorsal IX-X + II, 9-10, last spine segmented at tip, two parts widely separated by a scaled space; anal fin II-III, 8-11; tail base broad; tail fin deeply forked; lateral line complete, extends onto tail fin, nearly to its edge; body and most of head with rough scales; second dorsal with a sheath of scales along its base.
A single W Atlantic species in this genus.