| Family: |
Bothidae (Lefteye flounders) |
| Max. size: |
13 cm TL (male/unsexed) |
| Environment: |
demersal; marine; depth range - 8 m |
| Distribution: |
Northwest Pacific: Taiwan. Southwest Pacific: Lord Howe Island. Possibly occurring in the Western Central Pacific. |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal soft rays (total): 85-88; Anal soft rays: 64-69. Head and body on eyed side tan to grey with many small dark specks and spots. A series of dark spots very close to dorsal and ventral edges of body. About 4 or 5 spots along straight section of lateral line. Dorsal, anal, and caudal fin light coloured with small dark specks. Flaps on eyes of males with dark spots. Blind side of females tan to whitish. Males with distinct bluish black V-shaped mark on blind side. Ventral arm of "V" wider than dorsal arm. Body ovoid, its depth about 1.7 times SL. Head small, snout shorter than eye, profile steep anterior to interorbital area. Head length 3.9 to 4.2 times SL. Interorbital region broad and concave, probably wider in males than females. Males with a rostral spine and several small orbital spines. Both eyes on left side of head, front margin of upper eye over middle of lower eye. Flaps on posterior areas of eyes in males. Mouth small, reaching to below anterior margin of lower eye, length of upper jaw 3.5 to 4.1 times in head length. Teeth of upper jaw biserial, teeth of outer row more widely spaced than teeth of inner row. Teeth in lower jaw uniserial. Gill rakers short. Scales on eyed side with long ctenii. Scales on blind side cycloid. Pectoral fin on eye side with 11 or 12 rays and on blind side with 9 or 10 rays (Ref 42535). |
| Biology: |
Lives on silty sand bottoms and feeds on bottom-living animals. Only known from specimens collected from divers. Sexually dimorphic characters possibly develop at about 6-7 cm SL. |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Data deficient (DD); Date assessed: 11 November 2019 Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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