Argentina silus
Atlantic Argentine
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Argentiniformes
Argentinidae (Argentines)
Argentina
Argentina silus (Atlantic Argentine)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. Scales with tiny spines on exposed parts. Dorsal fin begins above or nearly above tip of pectoral fin (Ref. 7251). Swim bladder elongated and silvery. Body slender to robust (Ref. 37473).
Distribution
Eastern Atlantic: Svalbard to west coasts of Scotland and Ireland, deeper parts of North Sea and across the Wyville Thomson ridge to Denmark Strait. Western Atlantic: Davis Strait to George's Bank in Canada. Arctic Ocean: east to Finnmark, Norway, Barents Sea (Ref. 86838).
Habitat Associations
Marine. bathypelagic. depth range 55-1440 m.
Biology
Bathypelagic (Ref. 58426). Prefer depths of 182.8-255.9 m, temperature 7-10°C and mean salinity 34 ppt (Ref. 5951). Probably form schools close to the bottom. Feeds on planktonic invertebrates including euphausiids, amphipods (arrow worms, krill and Thermisto (Ref. 5951)), chaetognaths, squids and ctenophores, also small fishes. Spawns from April to July (Ref. 4773). Growth is slow. Eggs and young are pelagic at depths of 400-500m. Used fresh or in fish meal production (Ref. 35388).
Max length: 70.0 cm SL; max age: 35 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: N.E. (N.E.). Resilience: Low (K=0.12-0.14; tm=5-9).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Pauly, D. (1989) Food consumption by tropical and temperate fish populations: some generalizations. J. Fish Biol. 35(Suppl.A):11-20.
Cohen, D.M. (1984) Argentinidae (including Microstomatidae). p. 386-391. 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, Volume 1. Unesco, Paris.
Muus, B.J. and J.G. Nielsen (1999) Sea fish. Scandinavian Fishing Year Book, Hedehusene, Denmark. 340 p.
Bigelow, H.B., D.M. Cohen, M.M. Dick, R.H. Gibbs Jr., M. Grey, J.E. Morrow Jr., L.P. Schultz and V. Walters (1964) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part four. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Coad, B.W. and J.D. Reist (2018) Marine fishes of Arctic Canada. Toronto (ON, Canada): University of Toronto Press. xiii+618 p.
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