Main identification features
- rear nostril: tube over eye
- tan + vertical rows dark spots
- dorsal and anal fins= crests near tail
- 1 pore over gill opening
Slender, moderately elongate, compressed at rear; relatively stout (body depth 5-8% of total length); tail slightly longer than head & trunk; dorsal & anal fins present as skin covered ridges near tip of tail; snout short, ~conical; eye moderate, over middle of jaws; front nostril tubular; rear nostril a short tube above middle of eye; gill opening a small slit at ~mid side; pores above & below eye, along lower jaw, 1 before gill opening; teeth conical, slender, sharp; jaw teeth numerous, in 4-7 irregular rows, middle row enlarged; 1 row of large teeth at front of roof of mouth; a single lateral line pore above gill opening.
Ground color pale creamy yellow to tan; head & body entirely covered with dispersed, eye-sized dark spots that tend to be arranged in vertical rows; thin, often incomplete, irregular dark lines tend to link up the spots, particularly along the vertical axis.
Size: 40 cm.
Habitat: coral reef.
Depth: 3-35 m.
Indo-Pacific; in the eastern Pacific only at Clipperton.
Attributes
Abundance: Common.
Cites: Not listed.
Climate Zone: Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo).
Depth Range Max: 35 m.
Depth Range Min: 3 m.
Diet: mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves; mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs); octopus/squid/cuttlefish; mobile benthic worms.
Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=11; Southern limit=11; Western limit=-110; Eastern limit=-110; Latitudinal range=1; Longitudinal range=1.
Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.
Feeding Group: Carnivore.
FishBase Habitat: Reef Associated.
Global Endemism: All Pacific (West + Central + East); Indo-Pacific only (Indian + Pacific Oceans); TEP non-endemic; "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All species.
Habitat: Corals; Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom); Rocks; Reef (rock &/or coral); Reef only.
Inshore Offshore: Inshore; Inshore Only.
IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.
Length Max: 40 cm.
Regional Endemism: Island (s) only; Island (s); Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; Eastern Pacific non-endemic; All species.
Residency: Resident.
Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.
Water Column Position: Bottom; Bottom only;
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