Teleostei (teleosts) >
Aulopiformes (Grinners) >
Synodontidae (Lizardfishes) > Synodontinae
Etymology: Trachinocephalus: Greek, trachys, -eia, -ys = rough + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 3 - 388 m (Ref. 58302), usually 40 - 183 m (Ref. 110386). Tropical
Indo-Pacific: African coast of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea to Hawaii in the
central Pacific Ocean.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?, range 19 - ? cm
Max length : 22.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 110386)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 14; Anal soft rays: 13 - 18. This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: snout length (LSn) 40.4-108.5% eye diameter (DE), mean 74.8% (vs. mean 40.1% in T. gauguini and 79.1% in T. trachinus); LSn 15.0-26.0% body depth (DB), mean 21.2 (vs. mean 14.7% in T. gauguini); interorbital width 5.2-12.0%, mean 8.7% LH (vs. mean 5.6% in T. gauguini); DE 11.0-22.6% LH, mean 16.6% (vs. mean 19.6% in T. gauguini and 15.7% in T. myops); length of the last dorsal-fin ray 8.7-11.8% LS, mean 10.1% (vs. mean 10.8% in T. gauguini and 9.4% in T. myops); anal-fin rays 13-18, mode 16 (vs. mode 14 in T. gauguini and 15 in T. myops); pectoral-fin rays 11-13, mode 12 (vs. mode 11 in T. gauguini); predorsal scales 14-18, mode 16 (vs. mode 17 in T. myops). differs further from T. gauguini and T. myops by the deep mitochondrial distances (15.7-19.0 and 15.1-17.8%, respectively) (Ref. 110386).
Occurs in estauries and inshore waters to 200 m (Ref. 110386); benthic at 3-388 m (Ref. 58302). Found near shore above 40 m over sandy bottoms of deep outer reef slopes (Ref. 11230). Reported to be common in estuaries (Ref. 11228, 48635). Rest on or more often burrow into substrate, leaving eyes exposed and when disturbed, it may swim a short distance but quickly buries itself again (Ref. 48635). Feed on fishes (Ref. 5213) and small crustaceans (Ref. 36558).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Polanco, F.A., P.A. Acero and R. Betancur-R, 2016. No longer a circumtropical species: revision of the lizardfishes in the Trachinocephalus myops species complex, with description of a new species from the Marquesas Islands. J. Fish Biol. 89(2):1302-1323. (Ref. 110386)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = No PD50 data [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02291 (0.01286 - 0.04082), b=3.39 (3.23 - 3.55), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.2 ±0.7 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (18 of 100).
