Teleostei (teleosts) >
Ovalentaria/misc (Various families in series Ovalentaria) >
Opistognathidae (Jawfishes)
Etymology: Opistognathus: Greek, opisthe = behind + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335); to the very elongate upper jaw of the type species of the genus, Opistognathus nigromarginatus (Ref. 128653).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 63 - 72 m (Ref. 13250). Tropical
Eastern Pacific: Colombia and Costa Rica.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 27.1 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 13250)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 13; Vertebrae: 26. This large (13.2-21.8 cm SL) species have the following set of characters: truncate caudal fin;
D 13, A III; 102-105 oblique scale rows in longitudinal series; 68-73 pored lateral line scales; 26-30 gill rakers on lower limb of first arch; entire length of body with 3 violet parallel lines observed on the Colombian specimens (no spotting or other markings on head or body of Costa Rican specimen except for a series of small dark spots along the distal margin
of dorsal fin); 16 caudal vertebrae (Ref. 75633).
Mouthbrooders (Ref. 240).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae
Employ mouthbrooding to care for their young (Ref. 240).
Acero, A.P. and R. Franke, 1993. Una nueva especie de Opistognathus (Pisces: Perciformes) para la isla de Gorgona (Pacífico Colombiano). Caldasia 17(2):291-293. (Ref. 13250)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 13.6 - 20.9, mean 15.1 °C (based on 8 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.7 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (17 of 100).