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Dactyloscopus crossotus Starks, 1913

Bigeye stargazer
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Dactyloscopus crossotus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Dactyloscopus crossotus (Bigeye stargazer)
Dactyloscopus crossotus
Picture by Engman, A.C.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Blenniiformes (Blennies) > Dactyloscopidae (Sand stargazers)
Etymology: Dactyloscopus: Greek, daktylos = finger + Greek, skopein = to look (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Starks.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 0 - 8 m (Ref. 27742), usually ? - 3 m. Tropical; 30°N - 33°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Florida, USA and Bahamas to Brazil.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 23; Anal spines: 2. Common amongst Dactyloscopidae: Small, elongate fishes. Head usually broad and deep, body tapering and compressed behind. Eyes on top of head, often protrusible; mouth moderate to large, oblique to vertical; upper and/or lower lips with fimbriae; jaw teeth minute, in 2 or more series; no teeth on roof of mouth (vomer and palatines). Opercular opening large, gill membrane free from isthmus; opercles membranous, large, usually overlapping on underside of head, typically fringed above with 2 to 24 fleshy fimbriae. Dorsal fin continuous, with an isolated or semi-isolated anterior finlet, or with 1 to 5 separate anterior rays; dorsal-fin spines 7 to 23; anal-fin spines 2; dorsal and anal fins free or united to caudal fin by fragile membranes; pectoral fins broad-based, usually enlarged in mature males; caudal-fin rays simple or branched; pelvic fins under throat (insertion anterior to pectoral-fin base), with 1 spine and 3 thickened segmented rays; all other rays simple. Head and venter naked, body elsewhere with large cycloid scales (smooth to touch); lateral line high anteriorly, deflecting ventrally behind pectoral fin to continue along middle of side to caudal-fin base where terminal lateral-line scale bears ventrally directed canal. Body coloration, variably pale to strongly pigmented with white, brown, or reddish; some forms with characteristic saddle-like bars crossing back; others plain, mottled, or with indications of lateral stripes. Species distinguished by: dorsal-fin origin on nape; without a distinct anterior finlet. First preopercular canal branched, with 2 or more distal pores. Posterior naris (a patch of 1 to 8 pores) located on preorbital, between tubiform anterior naris and eye; premaxillary pedicels usually not reaching past rear margins of orbits (Ref. 52855).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in surf beaches, usually in less than 3 m depth. Burrows in soft sandy bottom, where it waits for prey, with only the eyes, nose and mouth protruding.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Williams, Jeffrey T. | Collaborators

Dawson, C.E., 1982. Atlantic sand stargazers (Pisces: Dactyloscopidae), with description of one new genus and seven new species. Bull. Mar. Sci. 32(1):14-85. (Ref. 27742)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 18 October 2007

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
Ecology
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Length-length rel.
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 24.8 - 28.1, mean 27.4 °C (based on 652 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 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):  4.2   ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).