Fishery Bulletin 96(1 ), 1998 
1 16 
Symphurus urospilus Ginsburg, 1951 
(Figs. 9 A, 52-53; Tables 1-10, 32-33) 
Spottail tonguefish 
Symphurus urospilus Ginsburg, 1951:193 (original 
description; Savannah, Georgia). Hildebrand, 
1955:205 (Gulf of Campeche, Mexico; occurrence 
on pink shrimp grounds; substrate preference). 
Springer and Bullis, 1956:65 (Gulf of Mexico). 
Briggs, 1958:298 (Florida). Bullis and Thompson, 
1965:35 (northeast Florida, Florida Keys). Moe and 
Martin, 1965:149 (Tampa Bay, Florida). Beau- 
mariage, 1968:8 (St. Petersburg, Florida). Struh- 
saker, 1969:298 (southeast United States). Topp 
and Hoff, 1972:90 (continental shelf west Florida; 
limited ecological and life history data; distribu- 
tion records). Vergara Rodriguez, 1976:6 (Cuba). 
Webster et al. 3 (South Atlantic Bight; ranked 70th 
in abundance of 244 taxa in trawls). Munroe, 
1992:371, 382 (ID pattern; geographic, bathymet- 
ric distributions). Darovec, 1995:89 (distribution 
on west Florida shelf). 
Diagnosis Symphurus urospilus is distinguished 
from all congeners by combination of predominant 
1-4-3 ID pattern; 11 caudal-fin rays; 4 hypurals; 82- 
90 dorsal-fin rays; 64-74 anal-fin rays; 44-48 total 
vertebrae; 67-82 scales in longitudinal series; 
well-developed pupillary operculum; unpigmented 
peritoneum; fleshy ridge on ocular-side lower jaw; 
absence of scales on blind sides of dorsal- and anal- 
fin rays; absence of membrane ostia in dorsal and 
anal fins; partial row of teeth along margin of ocu- 
lar-side lower jaw; ocular-side upper jaw usually lack- 
ing teeth altogether (occasional specimens with few 
teeth on anterior margin of premaxilla); ocular sur- 
face pigmentation featuring 4-11 (usually 6-10) 
well-developed, sharply contrasting, dark brown 
crossbands on head and body; absence of pigmented 
spot on ocular-side opercle; dorsal and anal fins with- 
out spots or blotches; and caudal fin with single, 
large, ocellated spot. 
Description A relatively large species attaining 
maximum lengths of ca. 166 mm SL. ID pattern usu- 
ally 1-4-3 (74/110 specimens), less frequently 1-4-2 
(8/110) and 1-5-2 (15/110), rarely 1-3-3 or 1-5-3 (Table 
2). Caudal-fin rays usually 11 (108/113), rarely 9 or 
10 (Table 3). Dorsal-fin rays 82-90, usually 84-89 
(Table 4). Anal-fin rays 64-74, usually 68-72 (Table 
5). Total vertebrae 44-48, usually 45-46 (103/114) 
(Table 6). Hypurals 4 (114/114). Longitudinal scale 
rows 67-82, usually 71-80 (Table 7). Scale rows on 
head posterior to lower orbit 13-17, usually 14-16 
(Table 8). Transverse scales 27-40, usually 31-40 
(Table 9). 
Proportions of morphometric features presented in 
Table 32. Body very deep, maximum depth in ante- 
rior one-third of body; body depth tapering fairly rap- 
idly in posterior two-thirds of body. Preanal length 
much shorter than body depth. Head moderately long 
and very wide, narrower than body depth. Head 
