Species: Lonchopisthus sinuscalifornicus, Longtailed jawfish
body: blue bars & spots
D & A row blue spots
Lonchopisthus sinuscalifornicus Castro-Aguirre & Villavicencio-Garayzar, 1988
Longtailed jawfish
Elongate, compressed, tapering body; large bulbous head, eye large, high on side of head; mouth opens at front, large, extends to rear of eye; top jaw with rear end concave, blunt notch or hook on underside at rear; dorsal rays XI, 18 (occasionally 17 or 19); anal rays III, 17 (rarely 18); pectoral rays 16-20; tail fin much longer than head length, with long central point; lateral line on front half of body only, high; scales in longitudinal series 67-74.
Head and body tan or cream; body with thin pale blue bars at front, scattered pale blue spots behind; operculum with a large intense bluish-violet ocellus; median fins violet; dorsal and anal fins with a central row of pale blue spots.
Size: grows to about 30 cm.
Habitat: most specimens have been caught by trawls on flat sandy bottoms.
Depth: 3-56 m.
Gulf of California to Ecuador.
Closely related to L. higmani of the West Atlantic.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom only
- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Sand & gravel
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Soft bottom only
- FishBase Habitat
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- Demersal
- Feeding Group
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- Carnivore
- Planktivore
- No Data
- Diet
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- Zooplankton
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- No Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Pelagic fish larvae
- Mobile benthic worms
- Egg Type
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- Pelagic larva
- Brooded
- No data
- Global Endemism
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- East Pacific endemic
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) endemic
- All species
- Regional Endemism
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- 3 provinces (Cortez + Mexican + Panamic) endemic
- Continental TEP endemic
- All species
- Continent
- Continent only
- TEP endemic
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- IUCN Red List
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- Least concern
- Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 30
- Depth Range Min
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- 3
- Depth Range Max
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- 56
