# California lizardfish > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/California_lizardfish > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/California_lizardfish.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_lizardfish > Source revision: 1322289543 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Synodus lucioceps.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Lea, B. |author2=Béarez, P. |author3=McCosker, J. |date=2010 |title=''Synodus lucioceps'' |volume=2010 |article-number=e.T183220A8074932 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T183220A8074932.en |access-date=19 November 2021 }} | taxon = Synodus lucioceps | authority = ([Ayres](/source/William_Orville_Ayres), 1855) | synonyms =''Saurus lucioceps'' Ayres, 1855 }} The '''California lizardfish''' ('''''Synodus lucioceps''''') is a species of [lizardfish](/source/lizardfish) primarily inhabiting the Californian coast.{{ITIS |id=162378 |taxon=''Synodus lucioceps'' |accessdate=August 23, 2009}} It has a long, brown body, which offers it camouflage in its habitat, the sandy bottom of the ocean. From its hiding spot on the bottom it ambushes small fish and squid. California lizardfish are [oviparous](/source/oviparous) and are believed to spawn in the summer months. ==Description== The [California](/source/California) lizardfish derives its name from its elongated cylindrical body and lizard-like head and mouth. The body is uniformly brown on its back, with its sides fading to tan and a white belly.{{Cite book |author1=Miller, Daniel |author2=N. Lea, Robert | title=Guide to the Coastal Marine Fishes of California #4065 | publisher=Agriculture & Natural Resources | isbn=0-931876-13-3 | page=68}} It has a [dorsal fin](/source/dorsal_fin) at its midback, no spinous fin rays, a small [adipose fin](/source/adipose_fin), yellowish [pelvic fin](/source/pelvic_fin)s ahead of its dorsal fin with about eight or nine rays each, and a forked [caudal fin](/source/caudal_fin). The longest fish recorded was {{convert|25.17|in|cm}} long, and may weigh up to {{convert|4|lb|kg}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mspcont7.asp#lizardfish |title=Marine Sportfish Identification: Other Fishes - California Lizardfish |access-date=2009-08-24 |publisher=California Department of Fish and Game }} Because of its long body and sharp teeth, the California lizardfish is occasionally mistaken for the [barracuda](/source/barracuda). The barracuda, however, is silvery rather than brown and has two similar-sized dorsal fins with a wide space between them, whereas the lizardfish only has a single dorsal fin with a tiny fleshy fin behind it. ==Range== The California [lizardfish](/source/lizardfish) occurs from [Guaymas](/source/Guaymas), Mexico to [San Francisco, California](/source/San_Francisco%2C_California). Some specimens have even been found as far north as [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), Canada and as far south as the [Galapagos Islands](/source/Galapagos_Islands). Although it is most commonly found on sandy bottoms in shallow water ranging from 5 to 150 feet deep, specimens have been found at depths up to 750 feet.{{FishBase|genus=Synodus|species=lucioceps|month=July|year=2009}} The California lizardfish is not sought by most anglers because its flesh has a strong taste resembling [iodine](/source/iodine), but can uncommonly be taken in fairly large numbers by anglers fishing for [halibut](/source/halibut) and other shallow water bottom-dwelling fish. They will take most baited hooks. ==Natural history== The California lizardfish spends most of its time camouflaged at the sandy bottom, buried or unburied, with its body propped up by its front ventral fins at a slight angle.{{Cite book |author1=Allen, Larry |author2=Pondella, Daniel J. |author3=Horn, Michael | title=Ecology of Marine Fishes: California and Adjacent Waters | year=2006 | publisher=University of California Press | location=Berkeley | isbn=0-520-24653-5 | page=395}} When prey in the form of small fish or squid swims past, the fish will dart upward to grab it, swallowing the prey whole.{{Cite book | last=Evans | first=David | title=The Physiology of Fishes | year=1998 | publisher=CRC Press | location=Boca Raton | isbn=0-8493-8427-3 | page=50}} This species is believed to spawn during the summer months, when adult fish have been observed to congregate on sandy patches. Young lizardfish are less than {{convert|3|in|cm}} long, nearly transparent, and scaleless, with a row of large black spots under the skin of the belly.{{Cite book |author1=Eschmeyer, William N. |author2=Herald, Earl Stannard |author3=E. Hammann, Howard |author4=Smith, Katherine A. |author5=Peterson, Roger L. | title=A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes: North America (Peterson Field Guide Series) | publisher=Houghton Mifflin | isbn=0-618-00212-X | page=91}} They may live for about nine years, as the [otoliths](/source/otoliths) of a specimen taken off the Galapagos Islands indicates.{{Cite book |author1=Grove, Jack S. |author2=Lavenberg, Robert J. | title=The Fishes of the Galápagos Islands | year=1997 | publisher=Stanford University Press | location=[Stanford, California](/source/Stanford%2C_California) | isbn=0-8047-2289-7 | page=199}} The California lizardfish is also host to a parasitic [tapeworm](/source/tapeworm), ''Anantrum histocephalum''.{{cite journal|last=Jensen|first=Lauritz A.|author2=Richard A. Heckmann|date=June 1977|title=Anantrum histocephalum sp. n. (Cestoda: Bothriocephalidae) from Synodus lucioceps (Synodontidae) of Southern California|journal=The Journal of Parasitology|volume=63|issue=3|pages=471–472|doi=10.2307/3280003|pmid=864564|publisher=The American Society of Parasitologists|jstor=3280003|doi-access=free}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2690609}} Category:Synodontidae Category:Fauna of California Category:Fish of the Western United States Category:Fish of Mexican Pacific coast Category:Fish of the Gulf of California Category:Western North American coastal fauna Category:Fauna of the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Galápagos Islands coastal fauna Category:Fish described in 1855 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [California lizardfish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_lizardfish) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_lizardfish?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.