Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)
Spinachia spinachia (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Spinachia spinachia (Linnaeus, 1758) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: 14-17 free spines in front of the dorsal fin. Size: to 22 cm
Habitat: weedy, shallow coastal seas. This fish lives singly or in pairs. Food: small invertebrates. Reproduction: male builds nest in April-June.
Distribution: coastal waters of north-western Europe.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. G. J., 1840: 148-149 (nest) | Prince, 1885: 487-496, pl. XIV | Möbius, 1885: 554563, pl. XXII (nest and the mucous threads) | McIntosh and Price, 1890: passim and pl. II (fig. 12) and XI (fig. 9-10) | Cunningham, 1891-1892: 73, pl. IV (fig. 6) ('Mugil chelo', probably Spinachia, fide Ehrenbaum, 1905: 316) | Mclntosh and Masterton, 1897: 222-229, front.+pl. VIII (fig. 8-10) | Holt, 1899: 55, pl. IX (fig. 100) ('Mugil', probably Spinachia, fide Ehrenbaum, 1905: 316) | Ehrenbaum, 1904: 170-174, pl. V (fig. 47), pl. VI (fig. 5455), pl. XV (nest); 1905: 1316-1317, fig. 114a-c.
Otoliths (sagitta). Retzius, 1881: 68, pl. X (fig. 8) | Frost, 1929: 263 | Chaine, 1958: 214217, pl. [7] (3rd row from top).