Aspitrigla obscura

Author: Linnaeus, 1764

Aspitrigla obscura Linnaeus, 1764

Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Chelidonichthys obscurus (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) (updated 2009-06-25)

Diagnosis: head large without deep occipital groove. First dorsal fin with 10 or 11 spines, second dorsal spine distinctly elongate, first spine smooth anteriorly; second dorsal fin with 17-19 soft rays; 17 or 18 anal finrays. Lateral line scales plate-like without spines, not expanded vertically, the distance between upper margin of scales and dorsal fin base equal to or greater than total height of scales. Breast and anterior part of belly scaleless. Vertebrae 36-37 (12-13 precaudal and 23-24 caudal). Total gillrakers on first gill arch 7-11. Colour: red dorsally, pale ventrally, the sides iridescent pink; pectoral fins dark blue, the other fins rosy. Size: to 40 cm, usually to 20 cm.

Habitat: benthic on soft bottoms and fallen rocks from the coast to about 170 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: no data.

Distribution: in the eastern Atlantic from southern coasts of British Isles to Mauritania, the Azores and Madeira; Mediterranean but absent in northern Aegean Sea and Black Sea.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Padoa, 1956b: 632, pl. 40 (fig. 8) (under the name Trigla obscura) | Marinaro, 1968a: 61, fig.
Otoliths (sagitta). Sanz Echeverría, 1929: 286, pl. 13 (fig. 45) | Chaine and Duvergier, 1934: 103, pl. 1.