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

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Triglidae, 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 subfamili ...

s. This fish is found in the western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Taxonomy

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

George Brown Goode George Brown Goode (February 13, 1851 – September 6, 1896), was an American ichthyologist and museum administrator. Early life and family George Brown Goode was born February 13, 1851, in New Albany, Indiana, to Francis Collier Goode and Sarah ...

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 attende ...

with the type locality given as off Barbados. The

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Bellator'' is one of 2 genera in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Prionotinae, one of 3 subfamilies in the family Triglidae, the sea robins and gurnards. The specific name ''egretta'' is the name of an avian 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 on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

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 This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

and operculum, The cleithral 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 moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

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

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

also has 11 or 12 rays, typically 11. The

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

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, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of this fish is .

Distribution and habitat

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

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

south through the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

and

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

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 heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...

, 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 starte ...

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