Aldrovandia gracilis
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Notacanthiformes (Spiny Eels and Halosaurs)
Halosauridae (Halosaurs)
Aldrovandia
Aldrovandia gracilis
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Elongate, slender, and moderately compressed, with a spatulate, projecting snout and a finely tapering tail. Preanal body depth is 7% to 11%, head length is 25% to 32%, snout length is 15% to 20%, and preoral snout length is 5% to 7% of gnathoproctal length. Blade of maxilla is not ossified posterior to base of very small maxillary spine; base of spine is continuous with concave posterior margin of maxilla. Lower jaw length is less than distance from jaw articulation to posterior edge of preoperculum. Palatine tooth patches do not meet on midline. Branchiostegal rays number 10 or 11, and total gill rakers on first arch number 14 to 16. Pelvic fin base is distinctly anterior to base of dorsal fin. Dorsal fin has 10 to 12 rays, and the first ray is short and unsegmented. Modified lateral line scales (placques) are in shape of vertical ovals and number 13 to 19 from gill cleft to anus. Placques are separated by one or two pairs of normal scale rows (one dorsal and one ventral to placque). Body is covered with scales. Head lacks scales except for lateral surface, excluding opercular bones.
Color is grayish white to pale grayish tan except for snout, which is white; head, which is dark bluish; and sheath of lateral line, which is transparent.
Distribution
Western North Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea between 640 and 2,615 m.
In the Gulf of Mexico it has not been reported west of Mobile, Alabama.
Habitat Associations
Depth range: 640 to 2,615 m.
Biology
Food consists of polychaetes, molluscan veligers, crustaceans, and detritus.
Maximum known size is 210 mm gnathoproctal length.
Embryos develop into leptocephalous larvae.
Found on the continental slope and rise. Feeds mainly on benthic organisms which includes pelecypods, amphipods, mysids, polychaetes and ophiuroids (Ref. 4448).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-02-16. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
References
Grey 1958
McDowell 1973
M. E. Anderson et al. 1985
Sulak, K.J. (1990) Halosauridae. p. 126-132. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
Cohen, D.M., A.W. Ebeling, T. Iwamoto, S.B. McDowell, N.B. Marshall, D.E. Rosen, P. Sonoda, W.H. Weed III and L.P. Woods (1973) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part six. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Comments On Aldrovandia gracilis