Opistognathus wassi, Chinstrap jawfish

Opistognathus wassi Smith-Vaniz, 2023

Chinstrap jawfish
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drawing shows typical species in Opistognathidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

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); wassi: Name 'wassi' in honor of Richard C. Wass, who generously made available his Samoan specimens, color notes and photographs of the new species at the beginning of this study.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 6 - 52 m (Ref. 128653). Tropical

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-West Pacific: Japan, Philippines, Brunei, Palau, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Australia, Fiji, American Samoa.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 6.2 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 128653)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10 - 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 12; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 10 - 11; Vertebrae: 25 - 26. This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: rigid upper jaw with no flexible lamina posteriorly, extending about 0.5 to 0.9 eye diameters behind posterior margin of orbit; infraorbitals slender and tubular, 3rd infraorbital without wide sensory canal openings, no suborbital shelf; D X-XI, 10-12, typically 11; A II, 10-11, typically 10; vertebrae 10+16, exceptionally 15; body with 51-62 scale rows in horizontal series; total gill rakers usually 33-37; chin with a conspicuous black band; dorsal fin with a prominent ocellus with inner dark spot beginning at spines 3 or 4 and ending at spines 5 to 8; double row of large pale spots on the side of body (Ref. 128653).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

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 2025-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 September 2024

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
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). 🛈