The Gulf bareye tilefish (''Caulolatilus intermedius''), also known as the anchor tilefish, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

, a tilefish belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Malacanthidae. It occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The Gulf bareye tilefish has a sturdy, quadrangular body with a relatively deep head which has a rounded profile and a small mouth extending to the front of the eye. There is a fleshy ridge along the centreline of the body in front of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

. The gill cover has a short blunt spine and serrations along the vertical margin of the preoperculum. The back and upper flanks are pale purplish brown. The predorsal ridge is dark, with a dark half moon at its front. There is an angled bar which runs forward from the eye to the upper lips. The tip of the snout is dark. There is a small dark blotch over base of the pectoral fins. The dorsal fin has a dark base, whitish middle and wide dusky stripe on the margin. The anal fin is opaline. The dorsal fin contains 7 spines and 24-25, occasionally 26, soft rays while the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has 1 or 2 spines and 22-23 soft rays. This species attains a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of but is a more common length.

Distribution

The Gulf bareye tilefish is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Its range extends from the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

west and south along the coasts of the United States and Mexico to the Yucatán Peninsula. There is a single record from northwestern Cuba, records from northern South America are thought to be misidentifications.

Habitat and biology

The Gulf bareye tilefish is found at depths between , typically over mud substrates. It is the commonest tilefish in the northern Gulf of Mexico. It occurs near the edge of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

and around the heads of canyons.

Systematics

The Gulf bareye tilefish was first formally described in 1936 by the Cuban biologist Luis Howell-Rivero (1899-1986) with the type locality given as

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. The specific name refers to the size of this species, intermediate between '' C. chrysops, '' C. cyanops'' and C. microps.

Utilisation

The Gulf bareye tilefish is not the target of a

commercial fishery Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often p ...

, it is taken as bycatch by fisheries targeting other species. It is normally sold fresh.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1866471 Gulf bareye tilefish Fish described in 1936