Author: Valenciennes, 1848
Glossanodon leioglossus Valenciennes, 1848
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Glossanodon leioglossus (Valenciennes, 1848) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body elongate, slender. Front (medial) tips of maxillae meet in midline; lower jaw with teeth present only on hind part; tongue with small teeth, on front only; branchiostegal rays 5. Adipose dorsal fin present; pectoral fins set low on body; anal fin far back, short, with 10-14 finrays. Lateral line scales 49-50. Colour: a dark line along back and another along flanks, the latter with a paler line below it (preserved material); swimbladder without silver pigment, but dark pigment on stomach. Size: to 16 cm.
Habitat: Outer continental shelf and upper slope, probably near bottom; possibly schooling. Food: pelagic crustaceans (Great Meteor Bank specimens). Reproduction: winter and spring spawning (Mediterranean).
Distribution: off Morocco and in Gulf of Cadiz, western parts of Mediterranean (to Aegean Sea in north, to Tunisia in south, also around Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily). Elsewhere, southward to about 24° N along coast of West Africa.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Schmidt, 1918: 7, fig. 2-5 | Sanzo, 1933c: 22, pl. 2 (fig. 1-11) | Karlovac, 1949: 12, fig. 2 | Marinaro, 1971: pl. 3, fig. 1-4.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.