Description

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 12; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 7. Diagnosis: body short and globose; mouth large with many small, villiform teeth; skin rough, covered with bifurcate dermal spinules; pectoral-fin lobes attached to sides of body; illicium at most as long as second dorsal-fin spine; head, body and fins entirely covered with rough, parallel, dark streaks (Ref. 57225).

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Lophiiformes

Family: Antennariidae

Genus: Antennarius

Species: Antennarius striatus (Shaw, 1794)

Climate Zone

Location

• Eastern Atlantic: off the African coast, from Senegal to Southwest Africa, with a single record from St. Helena. Western Atlantic: off the coast of New Jersey (USA), Bermuda, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico and throughout the island groups of the Caribbean to the southernmost coast of Brazil. Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and the East African coast to the Society and Hawaiian islands, north to Japan, south to Australia and New Zealand. Not in Eastern Pacific (Ref. 123477 ver. 09Nov2021).

Biology

Inhabit rocky and coral reefs, on rocks, sand or rubble (Ref. 9710). Found in weedy estuaries along the east coast of southern Africa (Ref. 4113). Occurring in marine or brackish waters (Ref. 57225). In the Atlantic, it is found at an average depth of 40 m (Ref. 5288). Benthic (Ref. 58302). Observed to inflate itself greatly like the puffers (Ref. 5521). Oviparous. Males have more intense coloration and extended cutaneous appendages than females (Ref. 205). Eggs are bound in ribbon-like sheath or mass of gelatinous mucus called 'egg raft' or 'veil' (Ref. 6773).

Habitat

brackish

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Harmless