Nakedbelly Searobin, Bellator gymnostethus
Nakedbelly Searobin, Bellator gymnostethus. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, June 2009. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches).
The Nakedbelly Searobin, Bellator gymnostethus, is a member of the Searobin or Triglidae Family, that is also known as the Gulf Gurnard and in Mexico as vaca enana. Globally, there are eight species in the genus Bellator, of which six are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and three in the Pacific Ocean.
The Nakedbelly Searobin, named for their scaleless breast and belly, has a rectangular block-like body that is mottled reddish brown in color with faint brown bars on their sides and white undersides. Their large square bony head is covered with many ridges and spines. They have a single spine just above the front of each eye (a key to identification – see picture above). Their anal, second dorsal, and pelvic fins are transparent. Their caudal fin is orange with a dark spot on the lower lobe and there is a prominent ocellus spot between the fourth and fifth dorsal spines. Their mouth is small and their jaw does not reach eye level. Their snout has a pair of prolonged snout plates that form a “scalloped” shovel-shaped extension on each side of their snout tip. Their anal fin has 11 rays; their first dorsal fin has 11 spines with the second spine being the longest (another key to identification); their second dorsal fin has 11 rays; and their pectoral fins are short, but reach the anal fin origin, and have 2 or 3 detached rays at the bottom of the fin. Their body is covered with rough scales.
The Nakedbelly Searobin is are found over and within sandy and muddy bottoms adjacent to reefs at depths between 30 m (100 feet) and 200 m (650 feet). They reach a maximum of 15.0 cm (5.9 inches) in length. They are more active and feed at night; during the day they are found submerged in sand. The Nakedbelly Searobin 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 Nakedbelly Searobin is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean and are found from Guerrero Negro, Baja California, southward along the central and southwest coasts of Baja, in the southern 80% of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala.
The Nakedbelly Searobin can be confused with the Chevron Searobin, Bellator loxias (yellow and orange bars on flank) and the Splitnose Searobin, Bellator xenisma (long first dorsal spine).
From a conservation perspective the Nakedbelly 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 tip of Baja.