Lavender lizardfish

Taxobox | name = Lavender lizardfish


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Aulopiformes
familia = Synodontidae
genus = "Synodus"
species = "S. similis"
binomial = "Synodus similis"
binomial_authority = McCulloch, 1921

The lavender lizardfish, "Synodus similis", is a lizardfish of the family "Synodontidae", found in the western Pacific including Japan, north eastern Australia, Lord Howe Island, and northern New Zealand, at depths down to 75 m. Its length is between 12 and 18 cm.

The lavender lizardfish is rounded in cross-section with a broad moderately flattened head containing a large wide mouth. The jaws protrude equally. Both jaws and all the mouth bones are covered with conical barbed teeth. The strong thick pelvic fins serve as props when the fish is resting on the bottom waiting for prey.

Lavender lizardfish are whitish with pale fawn undulating bars on the flanks and similar bands on the fins. There is a distinctive series of black spots on the upper hind edge of the operculum, and a pale lavender stripe along each upper flank.

References

*
* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8