Larimus fasciatus

Super Group: 
Opisthokonta
Phylum: 
Chordata
Sub-Phylum: 
Vertebrata
Class: 
Actinopteri
Order: 
Perciformes
Sub-Order: 
Percoidei
Family: 
Sciaenidae
Genus: 
Larimus
Species: 
fasciatus
Authority: 
Holbrook 1855

Diagnosis

Diagnosis_Genus: Larimus Cuvier. We shall call by this name, fish found in Oppien without precise meaning, sciénoïdes with two dorsals, with velvet teeth, and which the chamfer is not convex, and the muzzle very short: their preopercle is slightly serrated.

Diagnosis_Species: Larimus fasciatus Holbrook. Body above light grey; sides and belly silvery; sides marked with vertical dusky bars; snout very short and truncated. D. 10-1-24. P. 12. V. 1-5. A. 2-6. C. 16. DESCRIPTION. This fish bears considerable resemblance to the Leiostomus obliquus, though its back is less arched, and it is much thicker in the transverse direction. The head is small, and the snout short and truncated, though round; it is broad between the eyes, and is everywhere covered with scales, except along the lower jaw. The eye is very large, prominent, near the facial outline, with its inferior margin above the median plane of the head; it is about half its diameter from the snout, and two diameters from the posterior border of the opercle; the purpil is dusky, rather longest in the vertical direction; the iris is pale silver-grey. The nostrils are placed in a depression very near the eye; both are sub-oval, though the anterior is rather smaller and more elevated. The mouth is of moderate size, and opens downwards and backwards; the upper jaw is not protractile, or but slightly so; and the lower is pointed in front, though thick in the vertical direction, and appears, when the mouth is open, much longer than the upper, though in fact they are nearly of the same length when the mouth is shut. Both jaws are armed with small, villiform teeth. The tongue is very short, rounded in front, tolerably thick and smooth. The pre-opercle is rounded at its angle, with its ascending border nearly perpendicular, and without spines or serratures. The opercle is sub-rhomboidal, prolonged below, and with its posterior margin ending in two flattened points, from which hangs a slight fold of skin. The inter-opercle is thin, narrow, and semicircular. The gill-openings are large ; there are seven branchial rays ; the superior are flat, and the inferior small. There are two dorsal flns; the anterior begins behind the origin of the pectoral, and has ten delicate spinous rays, the anterior minute; they are partially received in a groove; the posterior dorsal has one spinous and twenty-four soft rays, nearly of the same length, except the two or three last; its membrane is covered for some distance with minute scales, and the whole fin stands in a groove of scales. The pectoral is broad, though pointed behind; it arises rather before the fleshy tennination of the opercle, and has twelve rays. The ventral begins behind the root of the pectoral fin, and extends nearly as far back ; it has one spinous and five soft rays. The anal is short, and has two spines; the anterior is minute, and the posterior stout; it has six soft rays. The caudal is short, but rather broad and rounded behind, with sixteen rays. The scales are nearly semicircular, straight before, rounded and finely ciliated behind. The lateral line is placed at first about the upper third of the body, and is concurrent with the outline of the back to the fourteenth ray of the soft dorsal, when it descends to the median plane, and thus continues to the tip of the caudal fin; its scales are irregularly quadrilateral, straight before, with twelve radiating strise, finely ciliated, and slightly cordate behind. COLOUR. The superior part of the head is silver-grey, more or less clouded ; the cheeks, lower jaw, opercle, and pre-opercle are silvery; the body above the lateral line is pale silver-grey; below it is silvery ; the sides are marked with seven vertical dusky bars, more or less distinct, and with margins more or less regular; these bars are most observable above the lateral line, though some of them descend nearly to the belly; the spinous portion of the dorsal fin is transparent, with the margin of its membrane a little clouded; the soft portion is more or less clouded the pectoral is semi-transparent; its rays are of a light colour, and its membrane is slightly clouded; the ventral is clouded with dirty yellow at its anterior half, but its two last rays are white; the large spine of the anal is light-coloured; its four anterior soft rays are tinted witli yellow, and its two posterior are white; the caudal is semi-transparent, slightly dusky with faint tints of yellow near its tip. DIMENSIONS. The head is less than one fourth of the entire length of the animal; the greatest elevation, without the dorsal fin, is equal to one head and a half; total length, twelve inches. HABIT. The Larimus fasciatus, though a very rare fish, is sometimes found in company with the Otolithus regalis, and is caught with the same bait. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. This fish has as yet been observed only in the waters of South Carolina.

Body_adults_common: 160 mm
Body_adults_max: 305 mm
Body_juveniles_female: < 120-130 mm (Ross, 1984)
Body_larvae_preflexion_length: 2.04-3.17 mm (Ditty, 1989)
Body_larvae_flexion_length: 3.12-4.20 mm (Ditty, 1989)

Type species

The type species of the genus Larimus is Larimus breviceps (Cuvier, 1830).

 

Type illustration / Type locality / Type specimen

Type illustration: Larimus fasciatus, PL XXII,  Holbrook, 1855

Ecology

Larimus fasciatus lives in Western Atlantic: Massachusetts to Texas in the USA, except for southern Florida. Including Gulf of Mexico (Fishbase).
Substrate: water
Salinity: marine
Salinity: brackish
Habitat: coastal
Depth: demersal
Depth: 0-164 m (Conabio)
Depth_larvae: pelagic
Temperature: 16.4-25.9°C (Conabio)
Salinity: 33.1-36.5 (Conabio)
 

Life cycle

Larimus fasciatus spawned from April through September with peak activity in August as indicated by female gonad indices (Ross, 1984).
Using age-length relationships of Ross (1978),
Larimus fasciatus reached maturity shortly after turning 1 year-old. They continued spawning throughout life until age 3, which was the maximum age encountered (Ross, 1984)
Larimus fasciatus is a non migratory species (Conabio).
Generation_time: 3 to 12 months
Longevity: 1 to 3 years
No sexual dimorphism (Fishbase)
Reproduction_mode: sexual (oviparous)
Spawning_method: external fertilization in the water column
Fertility_period: seasonal (during spring and summer) (April to November, Ross, 1984)
Fecondity_number_of_eggs_per_adult: 31 088 and 65 038 eggs (Ross, 1984)

Feeding behaviour

Carnivorous

Mode of locomotion

Motility: motile_swimming

Reference(s)

Observation site(s)

SYMBIONTS

Displaying 1 - 1 of 1
Association with... Region origin Name of site In reference...
Amyloodinium ocellatum Gulf Coast Research Laboratory