Argyropelecus hemigymnus
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Sternoptychidae (Marine Hatchetfishes)
Argyropelecus
Argyropelecus hemigymnus
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.)
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Characters
Short and deep bodied, with a moderately large, vertical mouth and dorsally directed, tubular eyes. Jaws have small to minute teeth. Gill rakers of first arch are long and number 19 to 23. Branchiostegal rays number 10, with 3 on epihyal. Upper preopercular spine is long, extending beyond posterior margin of preoperculum. Lower preopercular spine is long and vertically directed. Dorsal blade is long, is derived from seven dorsal fin radials, and exposed parts of posterior two radials are fused and bear barbs. Abdominal keel is well developed. Single post-abdominal spine has serrated edges and small posterodorsal spine. Spinelets are absent on anterior margin of dorsal blade and ventral keel. Pectoral fin has 10 or 11, dorsal fin has 8, pelvic fin has 6, and anal fin has 6 anterior and 5 posterior rays. Dorsal adipose fin has long base. ORB is pigmented and directed toward eye lens. BR number 6, and OP number 3. IP number 6, PV number 12, and VAV number 4. OA are in two groups of 2 and 6 photophores. AC are in two distinct groups of 6 and 4 photophores. VAV and AQ and AC photophores are compound (share common photogenic mass). Vertebrae number 36 to 39.
Color is dark dorsally and silvery on flank.
Distribution
Off the eastern seaboard of the United States south of 40°N to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas between 50 and 800 m. Subadults and adults are captured between 200 and 800 m during the day and from 100 to 600 m during the night. Premetamorphic postlarvae occur from 50 to 300 m, and postmetamorphic postlarvae occur from 300 to 600 m.
Biology
Food consists of calanoid copepods, ostracods, and small fishes.
Maximum known size is 28 mm SL for males and 39 mm SL for females.
Spawning occurs throughout the year with peaks in early to midsummer throughout its range. Ripe eggs are 0.92 to 1.88 mm in diameter, and fecundity ranges from 50 to 500 eggs. Life span appears to be slightly over one year.
Oceanic (Ref. 4739) and mesopelagic, mainly at 250-650 m (Ref. 4054). Depth range from 100-700 m (Ref. 4462) and from 460-1082 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Adults make marked vertical migrations (Ref. 4739). Found singly or in small groups (Ref. 4739). An opportunistic feeder at dusk on calanoid copepods, small fishes, etc (Ref. 4739). Sexual dimorphism with regard to body size (Ref. 5168), the males being slightly smaller than the females (Ref. 8966). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 35838).
Occurs between 200 and 700 m depth during the day, concentrated between 350 and 550 m, and between 100 and 650 m at night, preferring a depth between 150 and 380 m Ref. 47377). Also Ref. 58302.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-02-04. Resilience: High (tm=1; tmax=1).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Schultz 1964
Bright and Pequegnat 1969
Baird 1971
Baird 1986
Rass 1971
Murdy et al. 1983
Badcock 1984b
Howell and Krueger 1987
Badcock, J. (1984) Sternoptychidae. p. 302-317. 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.
Gon, O. (1990) Sternoptychidae. p. 123-126. In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, South Africa.
Hopkins, T.L. and R.C. Baird (1985) Feeding ecology of four hatchetfishes (Sternoptychidae) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Bull. Mar. Sci. 36(2):260-277.
Watson, W. (1996) Sternoptychidae: hatchetfishes. p. 268-283. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Yang, J., Z. Huang, S. Chen and Q. Li (1996) The Deep-Water Pelagic Fishes in the Area form Nansha Islands To the Northeast part of South China Sea. Science Publication Company, Beijing. 190 pp.
Deval, M.C., O. Güven, I. Saygu and T. Kabapçioğlu (2014) Length-weight relationships of 10 fish species found off Antalya Bay, eastern Mediterranean. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 30(3):567-568. DOI: 10.1111/jai.12382
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
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