The bonnetmouth has a cigar-shaped body and can grow up to 13 cm (5.1 in) in total length.[2]
Bonnetmouths are generally yellowish-gray, with some blue coloration on the front and silvery-white on the sides.[3] Adults have four brown stripes on the upper halves of their bodies (one mid-dorsal), while juveniles have only three stripes.[3] These stripes are usually more evident near the front and become more faded near the tail.
Found only in the western Atlantic Ocean, bonnetmouths can be seen from southern Florida and the Bahamas to northern South America. They can be captured most often near the Florida Keys, US Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas.[4] The type specimens were both collected off the Bahamas' Cat Island.[4] They are generally associated with reefs[5] and can be found over coral heads in small groups.[6] Bonnetmouths can be found at depths from 3–90 m (10–300 ft), but mainly occur in schools at about 64 m (210 ft).[7] It feeds on invertebrates and small fishes.[1]
Systematics
Emmelichthyops atlanticus was first formally described in 1945 by the Americanichthyologist Leonard Peter Schultz (1901-1986) with the type locality given as Cat Island in the Bahamas.[8] It was formerly placed in the family Inermiidae.[1] The generic name, Emmelichthyops, means “like Emmelichthys”. At the time of its description this species was thought to be related to Emmelichthys and the two genera are similar.[9]
^ abcRandall, John E. Caribbean Reef Fishes. 1968, Jersey City, New Jersey, T.H.F. Publications. 93
^ abBohlke, James E. Charles C. G. Chaplin. Fishes of the Bahamas and Adjacent Tropical Waters. 2nd edition. Austin, UP of Texas. 304.
^Riede, K. 2004 Global register of migratory species - from global to regional scales. Final Report of the R&D-Projekt 808 05 081. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn, Germany. 329 p.
^Lieske, E. and R. Myers 1994 Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Harper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
^Smith, C.L. 1997 National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
