''Chilomycterus antennatus'', the bridled burrfish, is a species of fish belonging to the family Diodontidae. It is native to the tropical waters of the Western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

from southeastern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

to northern South America. They are also found in the Eastern Atlantic off the cost of

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

Description

''C. antennatus'' has a maximum length of 38 cm. They have 10–12 short, fixed spines with fleshy sheaths on their head and body. These are arranged in an approximate row from the

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

to 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 ...

, with the ones on the sides and top of body being more vertically erect. They have long tentacles above the eyes and small black spots on their head and body. Like all members of the family Diodontidae, ''C. antennatus'' has the ability to inflate their body through the swallowing of water or air. This, along with the spines, protects them against most predators.

Habitat

They are found on or near

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

and

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

beds between 2–13 m.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q937534

antennatus ''Antennatus'' is a genus of frogfishes. The last species was described in 2001. Species There are currently twelve recognized species in this genus: * '' Antennatus analis'' L. P. Schultz, 1957 (Tailjet frogfish) * '' Antennatus bermudensis'' ...

Fish of the Caribbean Marine fauna of West Africa Fish described in 1816 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier