Author: (Valenciennes, 1833)
Pseudotolithus senegalensis (Valenciennes, 1833)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Pseudotolithus senegalensis (Valenciennes, 1833) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body moderately elongate, compressed; inter-orbital width greater than eye diameter; mouth large, oblique, lower jaw projecting; a pair of sharp canines near tip of upper jaw; Dl X; D2 I + 28-33. A II + 7. Caudal fin asymmetrically pointed. Anterior end of swimbladder with a pair of complicated tube-like appendages, divided into a group of a few short tubes anteriorly and a group of numerous long tubules running backward along bladder. Scales weakly ctenoid, except for some cycloid scales on snout and sub-orbital region. Colour: silvery grey with distinct dark oblique lines along scale rows on sides, becoming horizontal and undulated posteriorly; inside of opercle jet black; spinous portion of dorsal fin with a black tip; pelvic and anal fins dusky to yellowish, caudal fin dark. Size: to 100 cm SL, common to 50 cm.
Habitat: over mud, sandy mud or rock bottoms in eoastal waters from the shoreline to 70 m depth, rarely entering estuaries, smaller individuals often found in shallow waters; moves to midwater when bottom temperature drops below 18° C. Food: fishes and crustaceans. Reproduction: from November to March in waters of 22-25° C (tropical West Africa).
Distribution: along the West African coast from Morocco to Angola, but rarely north of Senegal.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Ovarian eggs only, Collignon, 1957 and 1960 | Longhurst, 1964a.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.