Lumptail Searobin, Prionotus stephanophrys

Lumptail Searobin, Prionotus stephanophrys. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, December 2009. Length: 8.0 cm (3.1 inches).

The Lumptail Searobin, Prionotus stephanophrys, is a member of the Searobin or Triglidae Family, that is also known as the Blackfin Gurnard and the Blackfin Searobin and in Mexico as vaca voladora. Globally, there are twenty-three species in the genus Prionotus, of which fifteen are found in Mexican waters, ten in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.

The Lumptail Searobin has a rectangular block-like body that are gray brown with white undersides. Their large square bony head is covered with many ridges and spines. Their first dorsal fin has a black blotch between the fourth and fifth spines and their caudal fin and second dorsal fin have rows of black spots. They have moderately deep heads that have wide snouts, slightly projecting snout plates, and long jaws that reach eye level. Their snout has a pair of prolonged snout plates that form a “scalloped” shovel-shaped extension on each side of the snout tip. Their first dorsal fin has 10 spines; their second dorsal fin has 12 rays; their pectoral fins are long, reaching the middle of the second dorsal fin, and have 13 rays with the 3 first free rays being relatively short. Their body is covered with rough scales.

The Lumptail Searobin is found over and within sandy and muddy bottoms at depths up to 256 m (840 feet). They are more active and feed at night; during the day they are found submerged in sand. They reach a maximum of 43 cm (17 inches) in length. The Lumptail Searobin is seldom seen by humans and 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 Lumptail Searobin is a resident of all waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The Lumptail Searobin is very similar in appearance to six other Searobins found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean, however, it is the only Searobin with a black spot on its dorsal fin with black pectoral fins, making it easy to identify.

From a conservation perspective the Lumptail Searobin is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Due to their small stature and rarity they are of limited interest to most. They are a frequent by-catch of deepwater shrimp trawlers around the southern tip of Baja.