Scalemouth jobfish

The scalemouth jobfish has an elongated, slender body which at its deepest point is around a third in depth as its standard length. It has a comparatively small, sharply pointed head with a convex intraorbital area. The lower jaw protrudes slightly and the mouth reaches the pupil. The maxilla are scaled, each jaw has a single, thin band of bristle-like teeth and there is a small oval-shaped parch of teeth on the vomer.[3] The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 10 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. This species attains a maximum length of 51.4 cm (20.2 in). The main colour is a silvery pink, darker on the back. The fins are whitish,[2] except for the caudal fin which has a yellow upper lobe and a pinkish lower lobe.[4]

The scalemouth jobfish has a scattered distribution in the southern Pacific Ocean with records from Easter Island, Rapa Iti, New Caledonia and Tonga.[1]

The scalemouth jobfish is found in relatively deep water between 130 and 460 m (430 and 1,510 ft), at least. It is associated with rocky substrates, particularly reefs.[1]

The scalemouth jobfish was first formally described in 1973 as Pristipomoides squamimaxillaris by the American zoologist Harry T. Kami with the type locality given as Easter Island.[5] Kami placed this species in the monotypic subgenus Parapristipomoide but later workers argued that it was too different from other species in that genus and made Parapristipomoides a valid genus.[6] The hgeneric name means "near to Pristipomoides" while the specific name squamimaxillaris means "scaly jaw", a reference to the scaled jaws of this species.[7]

The scalemouth jobfish is caught by handline fishing at Easter Island and Rapa Iti and the catch is sold fresh.[3]