Relevant synonyms Callionymus cf. brunneus Callionymus haifae Misidentification None Meristic formula D1, IV; D2, 9; A, 9; P, 15-19; V, I+5;  photo : David Darom

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body elongated with depressed head, subcylindrical flank. In males, first dorsal spine filamentous and separate, other spines short. Second dorsal fin rays much longer, the last one elongated. Anal fin originates beneath 2-3 dorsal ray, last ray elongated. Caudal fin rounded (mostly in females) to lanceolate with two filamentous rays in males. Pectoral fin rounded. Pelvic fin thoracic, inserted before pectoral fin base, the outer rays much longer than inner and connected by membrane to pectoral fin base. Head triangular from dorsal view with pointed snout. Mouth small and protrusible directed downward. Dorso-lateral eyes with very small interorbital distance. Large preopercular spine with 4-7 upward antrorse hook-like serrae. Gill opening small and located above the operculum. No scales. color : brownish-fawn body with lateral series of dark brown to black blotches and dots. First dorsal of males black, only a black dot in females. size : common 5-10 cm (max. 18 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Other Callionymids: absence of 4-7 upward serrae on the opercular spine. (Fig. xx) Tripterygiidae, Clinidae and Blennidae: pelvic fin with 2-3 rays; head not depressed. Gobiidae: pelvic fins unite to form a sucking disk. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Feeds on small benthic invertebrates. Clear sexual dimorphism (see: description). Spawning season lasts from March to September. Eggs and larvae planktonic. habitat : benthic. Sandy and muddy substrate to 100 m.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel, 1953. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Indo-Pacific. Red Sea, east Africa including Madagascar and Mauritius to New Guinea and China. Mediterranean : recorded first in Israel (Ben-Tuvia, 1953a; Tortonese, 1953) ; successively recorded from Lebanon (George et al., 1964) and Turkey (Gucu et al., 1994). Recorded in Rhodes. ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Very common on trawl grounds. speculated reasons for success : unknown. MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS Due to its small size, not of commercial value. The huge numbers of fish stuck to the trawl nets with their serrated preopercular spine constitute a great nuisance to local fishermen.

KEY REFERENCES Ben-Tuvia A., 1953. Mediterranean fishes of Israel. Bulletin of the Sea Fisheries Research Station, Haifa, 8: 1-40. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: January 2009 ©ciesm 2002