LETHRINIDAE


Wattsia mossambica, 19.1 cm SL
(photo by Seishi Kimura)


Wattsia mossambica
(Smith, 1957)
Mozambique Large-eye Bream

D X, 10; A III, 10; P1 14; P2 I, 5; LLp 41-47.

Body deep, compressed; body depth 1.9-2.2 in SL. Head profile around eye nearly straight. Maxilla with a longitudinal denticulated ridge. A narrow, villiform tooth band in jaws bordered by an outer series of conical teeth. Caudal fin slightly forked, with broadly rounded lobes. Cheek covered with scales; inner surface of pectoral fin axil not covered with scales. Color: body silvery gray to brown, sometimes with indistinct dark blotches or bars on lateral surface of body. Fins yellowish. A narrow blackish bar across pectoralfin base. Size: maximum length about 55 cm. Distribution: widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical Indo-West Pacific, from Mozambique east to the Marshall Islands, and southern Japan south to northern Australia. Remarks: usually occurs on rocky reefs at depths between 100 and 180 m. Feeds on a wide variety of benthic invertebrates and small fishes. (Hiroyuki Motomura)