Author: Cuvier, 1829
Oedalechulus labeo Cuvier, 1829
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Oedalechilus labeo (Cuvier, 1829) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body cylindrical. Head broad, snout truncate, space between eyes flat and about equal to width of cleft of mouth; adipose eyelid rudimentary; upper lip deep, slightly more than pupil diameter, without papillae, its margin formed of a single row of dense, horny projections (similar but smaller projections on lower lip); corner of mouth cleft almost reaching to below front nostril; hind tip of maxilla strongly curved downward, visible when mouth closed; preorbital deeply notched at level of corner of mouth. Pectoral axillary scale rudimentary; anal fin with 11 soft finrays. Pyloric caeca 6 or 7 (rarely 5). Colour: back grey/blue, flanks and belly pale or silvery, with golden longitudinal stripes along scale rows. Size: to 25 cm.
Habitat: coastal waters, but not entering estuaries. Food: no data. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: Atlantic coasts from Morocco to Gibraltar; also, whole of Mediterranean, but not in Black Sea. Elsewhere, no reliable records.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Sanzo, 1937: 506; 1938: 73 | Gaetani, 1942: 47, pl. 1 (fig. 1-4) (egg), 5-18 (larvae and postlarvae) | Perlmutter et al., 1957: fig. 6A-F.
Otoliths (sagitta). Morovic, 1953: 4, fig. 2.