Prowspine Cusk-eel, Lepophidium prorates
Prowspine Cusk-eel, Lepophidium prorates. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of Bahía Kino, Sonora, November 2014. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Photograph courtesy of Maria Johnson, Prescott College, Kino Bay Center, Kino Bay, Sonora.
The Prowspine Cusk-eel, Lepophidium prorates, is a member of the Cusk Eel or Ophidiidae Family, and is known in Mexico as congriperla cornuda. Globally, there are twenty-three species in the genus Leopophidium, of which fourteen are found in Mexican waters, nine in the Atlantic Ocean and five in the Pacific Ocean.
The Prowspine Cusk-eel has an elongated compressed body that tapers to a pointed tail. They have a pale gray coloration that transitions to white ventrally. Their lateral line has black streaks between the whitish pores (a key to identification) and their anal and dorsal fins have black margins. Their head is low and compressed with a well-developed snout and a large broad mouth with a curved spine at the front. Their anal has 106 to 113 rays; their dorsal fin has 124 to 133 rays with long bases that are continuous with their rounded caudal fin; their pectoral fins are mid-sized, each with 2 small threads; and, their pelvic fins are inserted under the eyes. They have 11 to 14 gill rakers. Their head and body are covered with small round scales.
The Prowspine Cusk-eel is a demersal species that is found over and within sandy and muddy bottoms at depths up to 366 m (1,200 feet). They reach a maximum of 32 cm (13 inches) in length. They are rarely seen by humans because they hide in caves during the daytime and only emerge at night to feed on crustaceans, small clams, polychaete worms, and other invertebrates. The Prowspine Cusk-eel is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Prowspine Cusk Eel is a resident in all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from Cedros Island, Baja California. northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.
The Prowspine Cusk-eel is very similar to the Finescale Cusk-eel, Lepophidium microlepis (golden brown coloration; yellow gill cover; uniform pale lateral line) and the Mexican Cusk-eel, Lepophidium stigmatistium (large black blotch at front of dorsal fin).
From a conservation perspective the Prowspine Cusk-eel is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught as a by-catch of shrimp trawlers, but are too rare and too small to be of commercial interest. They are seldom seen by humans and of limited interest to most.