Author: (Chabanaud, 1933)
Silhouettea aegyptia (Chabanaud, 1933)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Silhouettea aegyptia (Chabanaud, 1933) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: see genus. Dl VI (V-VI); D2 I + 10 (9-11); A I + 11 (11-12); P 14 (13-15). Scales in lateral series 24-28. Vertebrae 26 (25-27). First ray of first dorsal fin elongate in males. Colour: body fawn, with numerous short, vertical, dark marks, edged ferruginous in life; 9-10 lateral midline blotches. Size: to 4.35 cm.
Habitat: inshore shallows, on sand. Food: harpacticoid copepods and nematodes; also oligochaetes, gastropods, other meiobenthos. Reproduction: May onwards (Al-Ghardaqa, Red Sea); fecundity 305-408 at 2.7-3.25 cm SL. Lifespan: probably less than 2 years.
Distribution: in the area, immigrant from Suez Canal. Elsewhere, northern Red Sea and Suez Canal, to Bardawil Lagoon, Sinai.