Teleostei (teleosts) >
Ovalentaria/misc (Various families in series Ovalentaria) >
Opistognathidae (Jawfishes)
Etymology: Opistognathus: Greek, opisthe = behind + Greek, gnathos = jaw (Ref. 45335); to the very elongate upper jaw of the type species of the genus, Opistognathus nigromarginatus (Ref. 128653); ocellicaudatus: Name from the Latin 'ocellus' for eye and 'caudatus' meaning tail, referring to the prominent ocellus on the caudal fin.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range ? - 97 m (Ref. 128653). Subtropical
Northwest Pacific: Japan.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 6.9 cm SL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 11; Vertebrae: 26. This species is distinguished by the following characters: a rigid upper jaw lacking a flexible lamina posteriorly; D XI,11; A II,11; vertebrae 10 + 16; scale rows in horizontal series 42; lateral-line terminus below segmented dorsal-fin rays 2-3; gill rakers 11 + 23; spinous dorsal fin with a large blackish blotch between spines 3-7 and soft dorsal fin with two ocellated blotches ringed by white on proximal half of fin, the first brown and between rays 1-6 and the second black and between rays 9-11; distal third of the soft dorsal and anal fins yellow; head uniformly brown; with a small black blotch on opercular flap; caudal-fin base black followed posteriorly by white vertical band continuous with large dark ocellus ringed by white on middle of fin, the rest of the fin yellow; pelvic fin is yellow (Ref. 128653).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Smith-Vaniz, W.F., 2023. Review of Indo-West Pacific jawfishes (Opistognathus: Opistognathidae), with descriptions of 18 new species. Zootaxa 5252(1):1-180. (Ref. 128653)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = No PD50 data [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.4 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
