Blacklip Dragonet, Synchiropus atrilabiatus
Blacklip Dragonet, Synchiropus atrilabiatus, Male. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2012. Length: 15.5 cm (6.1 inches).
Blacklip Dragonet, Synchiropus atrilabiatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, November 2010. Length: 3.1 cm (1.2 inches). Provided in pristine condition via regurgitation by a 46 cm (18 inches) Jack Mackerel. Identification courtesy of Dr. Phil Hastings and H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.
The Blacklip Dragonet, Synchiropus atrilabiatus, is a member of the Dragonets or Callionymidae Family, and is known in Mexico as dragoncillo de asta. Globally, there are one hundred eighty-one species in the Callionymidae family that have placed into eighteen genera. There are thirty-four species in the genus Synchiropus, of which one, this species, is found in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The Blacklip Dragonet has an elongated flattened body. Live fish have reddish brown upper bodies covered with numerous small black spots. They have dusky fins and a dark oval ocellus with a partial white ring between the last 2 dorsal spines of the dorsal fin. This ocellus is darker and larger in males. Their anal fin has a broad red-black band near its white margin. Their caudal, pectoral, and pelvic fins have yellow tinges; in males these fins also have bands of dark spots. The margin of their top jaw is black. They have a long and depressed head with a short pointed snout and large eyes set on top of the head. Their mouth is small and oblique with the top jaw being protrusible. They have very small gill openings with a large spine on the preopercle. Their anal fin has 7 or 8 rays; their caudal fin is large and rounded in females and has a central point in males; their dorsal fin has 4 standalone spines (decreasing in height from front to back in males and of equal length in females) and 8 or 9 rays; and, their pectoral fins are rounded. They have no scales.
The Blacklip Dragonet is a demersal species that is found over soft bottoms at depths up to 235 m (770 feet). They reach a maximum of 16.7 cm (6.6 inches) in length. Adults reside in sand and mud habitats, whereas juveniles are pelagic and can be found mid-water up to 322 km (200 miles) offshore. Adults feed on small benthic invertebrates by walking the ocean floor on their pelvic fins. Reproduction is oviparous with pelagic eggs and larvae. The Blacklip Dragonet 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 Blacklip Dragonet is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from north of La Paz, Baja California Sur, in the Sea of Cortez.
The Blacklip Dragonet closely resembles the Sculpins from the Cottidae Family in body shape (large gill openings) but is unique due to the numerous small spots on its body, the ocellus spot on its dorsal fin, the black coloration of the lower half of its anal fin, and the black margin of its upper lip.
From a conservation perspective the Blacklip Dragonet is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are of limited interest to most. They are seldom seen by humans but may be encountered by divers on rare occasions over sandy patches surrounded by coral and rocky reefs.