Author: (Günther, 1861)
Synchiropus phaeton (Günther, 1861)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Synchiropus phaeton (Günther, 1861) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: eye in head 1.8-2.7. Preopercular spine formula - 1-2/- 1 (see fig), no antrorse spine at base. Dl IV; D2 8-9; A 8-9. Colour: orange or red dorsally, with olive blotches, belly pink or silvery. Dorsal fin with black blotch, anal with black margin. Size: to 18 cm (males), usually 10-14 cm; 12 cm (females), usually 6-10 cm.
Habitat: benthic, on sandy or muddy bottoms at a depth of 80-650 m. Behaviour: Territorial, males aggressive to each other. Food: small bottom invertebrates, mainly worms, snails and crustaceans. Reproduction: June-September (Mediterranean); eggs and larvae pelagic.
Distribution: northern Mediterranean, Gibraltar to the coast of Israel, lacking in northern Adriatic and northern Aegean; in the Atlantic, from Portugal west to the Azores, Great Meteor Bank and Madeira. Elsewhere, south to Gabon (southern Gulf of Guinea).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Fage, 1918: 141-144, fig. 107-111 | Padoa, 1956: 707-708, fig. 610-611.
Otoliths (sagitta). Bauzá-Rullán, 1959: 89, pl. I (fig. 1-4) | Weiler, 1968: 130.