Citharichthys cornutus

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{Speciesbox

| name =

| image = Cicor u2.jpg

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Carpenter, K.E. |author2=Munroe, T. |author3=Robertson, R. |date=2015 |title=Citharichthys cornutus |volume=2015 |page=e.T16438022A16510342 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T16438022A16510342.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}

| taxon = Citharichthys cornutus

| authority = Günther, 1880

| synonyms=

• Romboidichthys cornutus Günther, 1880

}}

Citharichthys cornutus, the horned whiff, is a species of flatfish in the large-tooth flounder family Paralichthyidae. This bathydemersal marine fish inhabits the continental shelves of the western Atlantic Ocean, in both tropical and subtropical waters. It ranges from New Jersey in the north to Uruguay in the south, though larvae samples have also been collected off the coast of Canada.{{cite journal |author=Thomas A. Munroe, Steve W. Ross |year=2010 |title=Distribution and life history of two diminutive flatfishes, Citharichthys gymnorhinus and C. cornutus (Pleuronectiformes: Paralichthyidae), in the western North Atlantic |journal=Fishery Bulletin |volume=108 |issue=3 |pages=323–345 |url=http://fishbull.noaa.gov/1083/munroe.pdf }} It occurs at depths between {{convert|30|and|400|m|ft}}, though it is usually found in deeper waters.

Like the rest of the large-tooth flounders, it has both eyes on the left side of its head. It grows to a maximum length of {{convert|9.1|cm|in|abbr=on}}. It is similar in appearance to C. gymnorhinus and C. amblybregmatus, both of which are sympatric species. All three species display sexual dimorphism, with the males displaying several secondary sex characteristics.{{cite journal |author=Elmer J. Gutherz and Robbin R. Blackman |year=1970 |title=Two New Species of the Flatfish Genus Citharichthys (Bothidae) from the Western North Atlantic |journal=Copeia |issue=2 |pages=340–348}}

Due to its diminutive size and the abundance of larger flatfishes, it is of no commercial importance, and is rarely collected. As a result, the fishes' morphology and ecology is known only from a limited number of collected samples.