''Bellator egretta'', the streamer searobin, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 h ...

belonging to the

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

Triglidae Triglidae, commonly known as gurnards or sea robins, are a family of bottom-feeding scorpaeniform ray-finned fish. The gurnards are distributed in temperate and tropical seas worldwide. Taxonomy Triglidae was first described as a family in 181 ...

, the

sea robin Prionotinae is a subfamily of demersal, marine ray-finned fishes, part of the family Triglidae. The fishes in this subfamily are called sea robins and are found in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, the other two Triglid subfamilies ...

s. This fish is found in the western

Atlantic Ocean 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 ...

Taxonomy

''Bellator egretta'' was first formally described in 1896 as ''Prionotus egretta'' by the American

ichthyologists Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

George Brown Goode George Brown Goode (February 13, 1851 – September 6, 1896), was an American ichthyologist and museum administrator. He graduated from Wesleyan University and studied at Harvard University. Early life and family George Brown Goode was born Februa ...

and

Tarleton Hoffman Bean Tarleton Hoffman Bean (October 8, 1846 – December 28, 1916) was an American ichthyologist. Biography and education Tarleton Hoffman Bean was born to George Bean and Mary Smith Bean in Bainbridge, Pennsylvania, on October 8, 1846. He attended ...

with the type locality given as off Barbados. The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

'' Bellator'' is one of 2 genera in the subfamily Prionotinae, one of 3 subfamilies in the family Triglidae, the sea robins and gurnards. The specific name ''egretta'' is the name of an

avian Avian may refer to: *Birds or Aves, winged animals *Avian (given name) (russian: Авиа́н, link=no), a male forename Aviation *Avro Avian, a series of light aircraft made by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s *Avian Limited, a hang glider manufacture ...

genus, the

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

s, and refers to the elongated ray in 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 c ...

of this species which resembles the long nuptial plumes of egrets.

Description

''Bellator egretta'' has a many spines on its head with short spiny plates on the front of the snout have blunt spines and no large spines anteriorly, It has a small mouth which does not extend to below the eye. There is a sharp spine in front of the eye and large tentacles above the rear of the eyes, The nostrils are surrounded by spines and there are large spines on preoperculum and operculum, The

cleithral This page is a glossary of architecture. A B C image:Porch of Maidens.jpg, The C ...

spine is short, not extending beyond the large spine on the upper operculum. The first dorsal fin has 11 spines, with the first spine being elongated in males, extending beyond the

caudal 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 ...

, and the second dorsal fin has 11 or 12 soft rays. The anal fin also has 11 or 12 rays, typically 11. The

pectoral 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 ...

s are short, containing 12 fin rays joined by the fin membrane and these fins reach just beyond the origin of the anal fin. There are 3 enlarged rays below the fin which are free of the fin membrane, the uppermost of these is shorter than the main part of the fin. There are no scales on the breast, on the membrane above the spine on the operculum or on the nape breast without scales. The color is yellow-brown to orange brown in the upper body and head; the barred flanks are red above and yellow below. The first dorsal fin is dusky yellow, with a black spot between fourth and sixth spines, the soft dorsal fin has 6 oblique yellow lines; the upper half of the caudal fin is marked with yellow spots and its lower rays are red. The pectoral fin rays are reddish or yellowish and the upper 3 rays have alternating dark and light patches, these frequently form bars, the anal fin is red, occasionally with yellow bars. The maximum published

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 this fish is . Streamer searobin ( Bellator egretta )

Distribution and habitat

''Bellator egretta'' is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean where it occurs from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

south through the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

and

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

to northeastern Brazil. It is found in bays and estuaries over sand and mud substrates at depths between , although it is typically found between .

Biology

''Bellator egretta'' feeds on mobile benthic crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs and

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

, including the pelagic eggs and larvae of fishes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2611438

egretta ''Egretta'' is a genus of medium-sized herons, mostly breeding in warmer climates. Representatives of this genus are found in most of the world, and the little egret, as well as being widespread throughout much of the Old World, has now started ...

Fish described in 1896 Taxa named by George Brown Goode Taxa named by Tarleton Hoffman Bean