Argyropelecus sladeni
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 sladeni
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
Short and deep bodied, with a moderately large, vertical mouth and dorsally directed, tubular eyes. Jaws have small, recurved teeth. Gill rakers are of medium to long length and number 17 to 21. Branchiostegal rays number 10, with 3 on epihyal. Upper preopercular spine is long and usually directed posterodorsally. Lower preopercular spine is directed ventrally, or often ventroposteriorly. Dorsal blade is low (height is about 3 times length), is derived from seven dorsal fin radials, and exposed parts of posterior two radials are fused. Abdominal keel is well developed. Postabdominal spines are of equal size, one is directed anteroventrally and is blunt, and other is directed posteroventrally. Spinelets are absent on anterior margin of dorsal blade and on ventral keel. Pectoral fin has 10 or 11, dorsal fin has 9, pelvic fin has 6, and anal fin has 7 anterior and 5 posterior rays. Dorsal adipose fin has long base. 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, AC and AC photophores are compound (share common photogenic masses). Vertebrae number 35 to 37.
Color is dark dorsally and silvery on flank. ORB is pigmented.
Distribution
Off the eastern seaboard of the United States south of 45°N to 40°N, in the Straits of Florida, and off the northern coast of South America to southern Brazil.
In the northern and western Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Mesopelagic, from depths of 350 to 600 m during the day and 100 to 375 m during the night
Biology
Maximum known size is 60 mm SL
Mesopelagic (Ref. 58302). Found in 50-600 m during the day and 100-375 m at night (Ref. 4054). Feed on copepods (Ref. 6885). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 35838).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 35838).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-19. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tmax>3).
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
Baird 1971
Baird 1986
Quéro, J.-C., J.C. Njock and M.M. de la Hoz (1990) Sternoptychidae. p. 275-282. 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.
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Weitkamp, D.E. and R.D. Sullivan (2003) Gas bubble disease in resident fish of the lower Clark Fork River. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 132(5):865-876.
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.
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.
Czudaj, S., C. Möllmann and H.O. Fock (2022) Length-weight relationships of 55 mesopelagic fishes from the eastern tropical North Atlantic: across- and within-species variation (body shape, growth stanza, condition factor). J. Fish Biol. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15068
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