Fish Identification Photos: Shorthead Lizardfish, Synodus scituliceps: The Shorthead Lizardfish is fairly easy to identify due to its size. It is the largest of the lizardfish, reaching 14 inches in length at maturity.

The Shorthead Lizardfish varies in coloration, with a red-brown to gray back, which quickly transitions to a white belly. The coloration is quite uniform. The body of the Shorthead Lizardfish is elongated, being 7 to 9.5 times longer than it is wide.

The Shorthead Lizardfish has very small eyes and a long snout with a sharply pointed, large mouth reaching well past the eye. The anal fin has 11 to 14 rays and its base is equal in length to the dorsal fin base. The caudal fin is dusky. The dorsal fin is halfway between the eyes and the adipose fin.

The pectoral fins do not reach the pelvic fin origins. The Shorthead Lizardfish has a similar appearance to the Iguana Lizardfish, Synodus sechurae (white spots along the lateral line and pectoral fins reaching the pelvic fin origin).

The Shorthead Lizardfish is found in the first 100 feet of the water column over sandy and muddy bottoms.

It is found along the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula south of Guerrero Negro, throughout the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the Mexican mainland south to Guatemala; it appears to be absent around the oceanic islands.

The Shorthead Lizardfish is a member of the Synodontidae or Lizardfish Family.