Gonorynchus gonorynchus
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| Gonorynchus gonorynchus (Linnaeus, 1766) |
Gonorynchus gonorynchus is a beaked salmon of the family Gonorynchidae, found on sandy or muddy bottoms of temperate continental shelves worldwide, to depths of 200 m. Its length is up to 60 cm.
G. gonorynchus is an elongate and cylindrical fish with a hard pointed snout that is used to burrow into the sand bottom. Immediately under the tip of the snout is a thin short barbel and behind this is the small underslung mouth. There are no teeth but the mouth is fringed with papillae.
The dorsal, pelvic, and anal fins are set back towards the tail and all fins are tipped with black. Small, firmly attached scales cover the body which is sandy-green above and lighter on the belly.
Vernacular names for this fish include mousefish, ratfish, sandfish and sand eel.
[edit] References
- "Gonorynchus gonorynchus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
