Aphyonus gelatinosus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Ophidiiformes (Pearlfishes and others)
Aphyonidae
Aphyonus
Aphyonus gelatinosus
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
Moderately slender and compressed posteriorly, with a swollen head, a horizontal mouth, and a bifurcated opercular spine. Snout is swollen and projects slightly beyond lower jaw. Anterior and posterior nostrils are midway between upper jaw and eye. Eye is very small and is located beneath skin. Premaxilla has about five relatively large teeth medially and five small teeth laterally. Lower jaw has band of conical teeth. Vomer has anterior row of six to eight small teeth and posterior row of six to eight large teeth. First gill arch has 3 or 4 long, and 9 or 10 short, gill rakers. Head is 25%, snout is 8.4% to 8.7%, predorsal length is 28% to 30%, and preanal length is 52% to 56% of SL. Pectoral fin has 17 or 18 rays, dorsal fin has 106 to 116 rays, anal fin has 65 to 68 rays, and caudal fin has 7 or 8 rays. Lateral line papillae occur on lower jaw and along midline of body. Vertebrae number 84 and comprise 31 to 33 trunk, and 51 to 53 tail, vertebrae. Mature males have copulatory apparatus consisting of long penis and clasper, located medially below penis.
Color is light yellow in preservative, with peritoneum dark brown.
Distribution
Western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Benthic between 914 and 2,560 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 132 mm SL
Fecundity is about 800 eggs
Found on or near bottom (Ref. 6527). The well-developed penis and reported presence of numerous spermatophores in histologically examined testes indicate internal fertilization. Eggs are found up 1 mm in diameter, but embryos were not observed (Ref. 105129). Uncommon species (Ref. 34024).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-10. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Grey 1956
Nielsen 1969
Nielsen 1986c,d
Nielsen, J.G. (1990) Aphyonidae. p. 576-577. 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. 2.
Nielsen, J.G. (1986) Aphyonidae. p. 1167-1171. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 3.
Nielsen, J.G. (2015) Revision of the aphyonid genus Aphyonus (Teleostei: Ophidiiformes) with a new genus and two new species. Zootaxa 4039(2):323-344. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4039.2.7
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