Author: Bowdich, 1825
Pontinus kuhlii (Bowdich, 1825)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Pontinus kuhlii (Bowdich, 1825) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: head large; snout moderate, longer than orbit diameter; supra-ocular tentacle small or absent; all spines as described for genus except that the upper post-temporal spine is small. Second and third dorsal spines elongate in adults; dorsal fin with 12 spines and 9 rays; pectoral rays usually 17. Lateral line with tubular scales. Scales ctenoid; 60-65 vertical rows of scales. Vertebrae 24. Gillrakers 6-8 on upper arch, 9-10 on lower arch. Colour: reddish interspersed with yellow; dusky blotches along side; soft dorsal fin usually spotted; dark pigment at bases of dorsal spines; head with yellow area below sub-orbital ridge, behind orbit and opercle flap. Size: to 23 cm, usually to 20 cm.
Habitat: benthic on hard-bottom areas between 100 and 450 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: in Clofnam area, known from Madeira, the Azores, Portugal, coast of Morocco to Mauritania; rare in Mediterranean (one record in Sicily and one record from the Spanish coast). Elsewhere, Cape Verde Is., South Africa (one record).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). Vaillant, 1888: 370 | Bauza-Rullan, 1962: 15, pl. 5 (fig. 55-59).