SERRANIDAE


Liopropoma africanum, 4.5 cm SL
(photo by Richard Winterbottom)


Liopropoma africanum
(Smith, 1954)
African Basslet

D VI+I+I, 12; A III, 8; P1 14-15; P2 I, 5; LLp 45-48; GR 5-6+12-14.

Body elongate, its depth 3.4-3.9 in SL. Head length 2.5-2.7 in SL. Inner teeth at front of jaws and side of lower jaw 4-5 times longer than outer teeth. Lips finely papillate. Preopercular margin with 12-24 serrae. Pelvic fin length 1.6-1.8 in head length. Color: body brownish red, with reddish brown stripes; narrow space between stripes white. Stripes on postorbital head yellowish. Caudal peduncle suffused with yellow posteriorly. Fin membranes pale yellowish to hyaline. Size: maximum length 8.8 cm. Distribution: distributed in the Indian Ocean, from east coast of Africa to the Andaman Sea, and Sumatra, Indonesia. Remarks: inhabits recesses of seaward reefs at depths of 8-48 m.(Hiroyuki Motomura)