Author: Rafinesque, 1814
Monochirus hispidus Rafinesque, 1814
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Monochirus hispidus Rafinesque, 1814 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body oval. Upper eye less than its own diameter from dorsal profile of head. Anterior nostril on blind side not enlarged, its distance from front margin of head at least twice in its distance to cleft of mouth; anterior nostril on eyed side with a backward-pointing tube reaching beyond front border of lower eye (generally to pupil). Dorsal fin beginning before vertical through front border of eye, with 50-58 finrays; pectoral fin on eyed side with 5-6 unbranched finrays, absent on blind side; anal finrays 40-45; caudal fin separate from last dorsal and anal finrays. Lateral line with 52-54 pored scales, the supra-temperal branch not very clear. Vertebrae 34. Colour: eyed side greyish or reddish-brown, with darker spots on irregular bands. Size: to 20 cm SL.
Habitat: demersal on mud and sand, on continental shelf, at depths of 10-250 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: eastern Atlantic (southward from Portugal) and Mediterranean (including Adriatic). Elsewhere, southward to Ghana.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Padoa, 1956: 855-856, pl. 49 (fig. 9).
Otoliths (sagitta). Chaine, 1936: 161, pl. 10.