Author: Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810
Cheilopogon heterurus Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1810
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Cheilopogon heterurus (Rafinesque, 1810) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays 12-14; anal finrays 8-10 (the former with 3-5 more rays than the latter); pectoral finrays 15-16 (1 unbranched). Gillrakers 20-24 on first arch. Predorsal scales 30- 38, usually 32-36. No palatine teeth. Colour: iridescent blue above, silvery below; dorsal fin grey, without spot; pectoral fins greyish with narrow pale posterior margin and obscure light crossband; caudal fin lobes uniformly pigmented. Size: to 34 cm.
Habitat: epipelagic in nearshore waters. Food: no data. Reproduction: in Italian waters it spawns in summer; eggs with filaments over entire surface; juveniles with a pair of short flattened chin-barbels lacking lateral flap.
Distribution: western Mediterranean (probably seasonally migrating, as never recorded there in winter), north-eastern subtropical Atlantic near Gibraltar; occasional specimens as far north as Denmark and southern Norway. Elsewhere, in other subtropical areas.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.
Subspecies
Cheilopogon heterurus heterurus: only subspecies in Clofnam area. Elsewhere off Bermuda.
The remaining subspecies all occur outside the Clofnam area.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. D'Ancona, 1931d:168-173, pl. 10 (fig. 12-15), pl. 11 (fig. 1-12).
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.