Author: Rafinesque, 1810
Symphurus nigrescens Rafinesque, 1810
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Symphurus nigrescens Rafinesque, 1810 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body fairly deep, dorsal and anal profiles convex, depth of body less than four times in length. Snout rounded, not hooked. Dorsal finrays 83-94, anal finrays 71-78. About 75 scales in longitudinal series. Colour: eyed side uniform brownish-grey or with either dark spots or more or less intense, broad, dark vertical bands; fins dark with lighter margins. Size: to 12 cm SL.
Habitat: benthic on muddy or sandy bottoms on continental shelf and slope, at depths of 20-1140 m. Food: a wide range of bottom-living invertebrates. Reproduction: spawns from May to October (Mediterranean).
Distribution: Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic (Bay of Biscay southward). Elsewhere, the Azores, Morocco to Angola, also St Helena.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Emery, 1879: 582, pl. 18 (fig. 1-2)| Kyle, 1913: 130, pl. 4 (fig. 41-44) | Roule and Angel, 1930: 113-114, pl. 6 (fig. 148-153) | Padoa, 1956: 871-875, pl. 45 (fig. 10-14).
Otoliths (sagitta). Chaine, 1936: 241, pl. 15 | Bauzá-Rullán, 1956: 132, pl. 10 (fig. 68-72).