Main identification features
- dorsal fin continuous
- dark stripes - top back, sometimes flank
- lower jaw: long, pointed, projecting
- ll: 2 sections
Body long and slender; head slender, with long pointed lower jaw; both lips with flaps, 9-10 on top jaw; dorsal fin in 1 part, origin behind nape, above anal fin origin; dorsal VII-X (usually IX), 27-31; anal II, 33-37; pectoral 13-14 (usually 13); lateral line scales 46-50; lateral line usually in 2 parts.
Pale form: light tan, with scattered small patches of dark pigment, irregular lengthwise streaks along nape & along base of dorsal fin, fins clear. Dark form: tan with dark brown markings, including top of head blotched & spotted, nape with series of spots & narrow blotches, a broad stripe along upper back, a broad stripe along lateral line, pelvic & anal pale, other fins mottled with brown.
Size: 7 cm.
Habitat: coastal sandy areas.
Depth: 15-45 m.
Galapagos Islands.
Attributes
Abundance: Common.
Cites: Not listed.
Climate Zone: Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).
Depth Range Max: 45 m.
Depth Range Min: 15 m.
Diet: bony fishes; mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves; mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs); mobile benthic worms.
Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=2; Southern limit=-2; Western limit=-93; Eastern limit=-90; Latitudinal range=4; Longitudinal range=3.
Egg Type: Benthic; Pelagic larva.
Feeding Group: Carnivore.
FishBase Habitat: Demersal.
Global Endemism: Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) endemic; East Pacific endemic; All species.
Habitat: Sand & gravel; Soft bottom (mud, sand,gravel, beach, estuary & mangrove); Soft bottom only.
Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.
IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.
Length Max: 7 cm.
Regional Endemism: Island (s) only; Island (s); TEP endemic; TEP oceanic island (s) endemic; Galapagos Islands endemic; All species.
Residency: Resident.
Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.
Water Column Position: Bottom; Bottom only;
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- Dawson, C.E., 1976., Studies on eastern Pacific sand stargazers. 3. Dactylagnus and Myxodagnus with description of a new species and subspecies., Copeia, 1976(1):13-43.
- Myers , G.S. and Wade, C.B., 1946., New fishes of the families Dactyloscopidae, Microdesmidae and Antennariidae from the west coast of Mexico and the Galapagos Islands with a brief account of the use of rotenone fish poisons in Ichthyological collecting., Allan Hancock Pacific Expeditions, 9(6):151-179.
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