Family: SYMPHYSANODONTIDAE, Bunquelovelies, Bunquelovely Bass, Slopefishes
lower front teeth large, exposed, fit in top-jaw notch
FAMILY SYMPHYSANODONTIDAE
BUNQUELOVELIES, SLOPEFISHES
Small fishes (to ~15 cm SL); body slender to moderately deep, somewhat compressed; snout shorter than eye; eye large; mouth oblique, opens at front; top edge of rear bone of top jaw covered by thin bone under eye; top jaw teeth small; front teeth of lower jaw enlarged, exposed, fitting into central toothless notch of top jaws; no teeth on center and, usually, sides of roof of mouth; operculum with 2 spines; gill rakers 34-42; dorsal fin continuous, usually IX, 10, no notch between spines and rays; tail fin deeply forked; anal fin III, 7-8; pelvics inserted under pectoral base, I,5; scales rough; most of head & jaws scaled; dorsal and anal fins without scales, but with a basal scaly sheath.
A pantropical family of continental slope fishes; 1 genus, containing about 10 species; two species in the Greater Caribbean, one entering shallow water.
PREPARED BY D ROSS ROBERTSON, AFTER ANDERSON (2002)
