【Morphological characteristics】
Dorsal fin 2+7; fin 2+5; pectoral fin 16; caudal fin 1+8+2.
The body is sub-cylindrical, slightly elongated, the cephalothorax is thick and rounded, and gradually narrowed backwards; the anterior part is thicker and rounder, and the backwards are gradually narrowed; the tail stalk is slender, and the posterior part is gradually flattened; the body length is 3.2 to 4.0 times the body height, which is 2.9 to 3.3 times the head length. The head is blunt and slightly shorter; the head length is 2.1 to 2.3 times the length of the snout and 4.3 to 4.6 times the diameter of the eye. The back of the snout is rounded and blunt, and the ventral surface is flattened. The eye is small, lateral and high; the eye septum is wide and the central part is slightly concave, which is about 1.7 to 2.0 times the diameter of the eye. 2 nostrils on each side, located on either side of the nasal flap. Small mouth, anterior position, flat and horizontal. The upper and lower jaws each have two beak-like tooth plates, and the central slit is prominent. The lips are well developed and finely lobed, with a longer lower lip and both ends curved upwards to the sides of the upper lip. The gill foramen are large, shallowly curved, laterally positioned, and located in front of the base of the pectoral fin. The gill cap film is white.
The dorsal surface is covered with small spines from the nostrils to the beginning of the dorsal fin, and from below the nostrils to the anus; there are also small spines in the front and back of the gill holes. There are no small spines on the front half and tail of the snout. The lateral line is well developed, upper lateral, and gradually folds below the base of the dorsal fin to the center of the tail, extending to the base of the caudal fin. There are several side lines. The lateral skin folds of the body are well developed.
1 dorsal fin, slightly sickle-shaped, located above the posterior anus, with 2 unbranched and 7-branched fins. The fin is homomorphic to the dorsal fin, starting later than the dorsal fin, with 2 non-branched and 5 branched fins. The pectoral fins are broad and short, nearly square, laterally and slightly lower. The caudal fin is truncated at the rear end.
The dorsal side of the head is pale yellowish brown with many small dark tan spots. The underside of the body is yellow, and the middle of the body side is from the snout end to the base of the caudal fin, and it is scattered with large and thin yellow-brown spots. There is a large yellow-brown diagonal band underneath the eye, below the posterior and above the pectoral fin. The ventral surface is white. The dorsal, pectoral and caudal fins are pale yellow, the posterior part of the caudal fin is grayish-black, and the fin is white. The gill cavity is pale yellow.
【Distribution】Produced in China along the northern coast of the South China Sea. The State of Qin, along the coast of Indonesia.
【Living habits】Warm water small and medium-sized demersal fish. Its natural habitat is shallow coastal waters. It feeds mainly on shellfish and crustaceans. The body length is generally 120 to 180 mm.
【Toxicity】The body contains pufferfish toxin (ttx), which is toxic to internal organs and ovaries, and the toxicity and virulence are ominous.
【Notes】In 1962, this species was named by Li Sizhong in the book "Fish History of the South China Sea" (amblyhynchotes hypselogenion rufopunctatus), due to historical reasons, it was not signed at the time of publication, according to the international animal naming regulations, it should belong to anon, (anonymous), in order to respect the author's naming rights, the namer should restore li.
