68 
Fishery Bulletin 96(1 ), 1998 
size of ca. 130 mm; however, most specimens were 
much smaller (80-105 mm). Only 15/161 (10.7%) fish 
examined for size-related life history information 
were larger than 110 mm. Males and females attain 
similar sizes. The largest S. piger was a female mea- 
suring 127 mm; the largest male was 118 mm. Among 
161 specimens examined for life history information, 
were 88 males (51.6-118.3 mm), 70 females (57.9- 
127.1 mm), and three immature fish (27.3-51.2 mm) 
of indeterminate sex. Sexual maturity of females 
occurs at ca. 69 mm. Mature females (n=66) were 
69.1-127.1 mm, and all females larger than 73 mm 
were mature with fully elongate ovaries. The small- 
est gravid female was 69.1 mm. Four females, 57.9- 
66.6 mm, were immature with ovaries just undergo- 
ing elongation. 
Geographic distribution (Fig. 35) On outer conti- 
nental shelf and upper continental slope from off 
southern Florida (off St. Augustine, ca. 30°N), Florida 
Straits, and Bahamas, infrequently in the Gulf of 
Mexico, and south through the Caribbean Sea, in- 
cluding waters off the Greater and Lesser Antilles, 
as well as off Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula), Central 
America, and northern South America to about 
French Guiana (7°N, 53°W). According to material 
available, S. piger is primarily a tropical species wide- 
spread in relatively deepwater areas through the 
Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic Ocean. 
Only a few lots containing this species were taken 
in the Gulf of Mexico. Of these, one (UF 44356, con- 
taining one large adult of 127 mm) was from the east- 
ern Gulf, off the Mississippi Delta of Louisiana 
(29°12'N, 88°25'W), whereas three others are from 
southern Florida (FDNR 12566) and the Tortugas 
region (USNM 117176; USNM 117287). Three lots 
(TCWC 4468.11; 6097.14; and 6207.17), totalling 21 
specimens, were collected on the continental shelf in 
the western Gulf off Yucatan ( 18.5-20.3°N). 
Baughman’s (1950) report of S. piger from Freeport, 
Texas, is based on a specimen (CAS-SU 40556) of S. 
civitatium. Relative scarcity of specimens from the 
Gulf of Mexico indicates that S. piger is probably not 
a regular component of the resident deep-sea fauna 
of this region, particularly in northcentral and north- 
western areas of the Gulf. 
Bathymetric distribution Symphurus piger occurs 
on relatively deep soft mud bottoms on the outer con- 
tinental shelf and upper continental slope. Depth- 
of-capture information for 175/178 specimens (Table 
10) reveals that this species has been collected over 
a wide depth range (92-549 m). However, the center 
of abundance occurs between 141 and 300 m where 
Figure 35 
Geographic distribution of Symphurus piger based on material examined (discussion 
of geographic distribution appears in species account). 
