Armed Gurnard

Peristedion cataphractum has a large, bony head which has numerous spines and ridges and a wide snout with two short and wide, or long and thin, rostral extensions projecting from the suborbital or preorbital bones. The mouth is inferior and there are barbels on the lower jaw and the chin with two of these being long and branched. There are no teeth in the jaws or on the roof of the mouth and there is no tongue. The first and second dorsal fins are set closely together, the first has 7 or 8 spines while the second contains 18 or 19 soft rays, The anal fin has between 27 and 30 rays and the pectoral fins have the 2 lowermost rays separated from the others. The body is elongated and has an octagonal section. The body is armoured with 4 rows of spiny, bony plates, called scutes, on each side with each row having between 17 and 21 scutes. The overall colour is dark pink or red, paler on the lower body. The maximum published total length for this species is 40 cm (16 in) although 18 cm (7.1 in) is more typical.

Peristedion cataphractum is found in the eastern Atlantic from the British Isles, although it is rare north of the Bay of Biscay, south to Angola and throughout the Mediterranean Sea. It has a depth range of 50 to 848 m (164 to 2,782 ft), the deepest records coming from the Ionian Sea. It is a demersal fish found on muddy or rock bottoms on the continental shelf.