Halieutichthys aculeatus (Mitchill 1818)
Pancake Batfish threatened by the Louisiana Oil-Spill where its teritorial is placed!
Max. size: 100 mm (4in.)
Easily identified by: rounded disk, pectoral fin lobes connected to the tail by skin, reticular pattern on the dorsal surface, ventral surface of body naked.
Range and depth: North Carolina to northern South America, including the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Cuba, Venezuela, and the Bahamas in 0 – 421 meters (0 – 1389 feet) (Miller 1965, Bullis and Struhsaker 1970, McEachran and Fechhelm 1998).
Habitat: occurs on substrata consisting of hard sand and coral, sand and sandy clay, or sandy mud with shell debris (Richards and Bradbury 1999).
Feeding: polychaete worms, small crustaceans (e.g. mysids), and small gastropods (Winans 1975, Nagareda 2005, Nagareda and Shenker 2008).
Ogcocephalus declivirostris Bradbury 1980
Slantbrow Batfish
Max. size: 137 mm (5.4 inches) (McEachran and Fechhelm 1998)
Easily identified by: rostrum slopes downward (not upwards or horizontal) with respect to the long axis of the body, pectoral fins translucent and taper to a point (not rounded) (Bradbury 1980).
Range and depth: northern and western Gulf of Mexico in 3.5 – 180 meters (11.55 – 594 feet) with one specimen recorded from the Straits of Florida at 388 meters (1280.4 feet) (Bradbury 1980).
Feeding: primarily tiny gastropods, specifically Nassarius sp, and Cosmioconcha calliglypta (Nagareda 2005, Nagareda and Shenker 2008).
Ogcocephalus pantostictus Bradbury 1980
Spotted Batfish
Max. size: 310 mm (12.2 inches) (McEachran and Fechhelm 1998)
Easily identified by: pattern of dark spots over the entire dorsal surface of the body.
Range and depth: north and west Gulf of Mexico, from Mobile Bay, Alabama to Tampico, Tamaulipas (Mexico) in 9-31 meters (29.7-102.3 feet) (Bradbury 1980).
Feeding: gastropods (Cosmioconcha calliglypta, Kurtziella sp., Oliva sayana), xanthid crabs and swimming crabs (Callinectes similis) (Nagareda 2005, Nagareda and Shenker 2008).
Other notes: rostrum characterized by ontogenetic allometry (very long in juveniles, then shortens with growth to become very short in adults
More Information here and Pictures here!