Ariosoma selenops
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Congridae (Conger Eels)
Ariosoma
Ariosoma selenops
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 elongate, with relatively wide gill openings and a reduced, blunt, stiff tail. Snout is rounded and projects slightly beyond lower jaw. Upper and lower lips have well-developed flanges. Anterior nostril is tubular and near tip of snout, and posterior nostril is small and located below midheight of eye. Jaw teeth are small and in bands. Intermaxillary tooth patch is not separated from maxillary teeth and is broader than it is long. Vomerine tooth patch is elongate, extending to about midlength of maxillary tooth band, and is slightly separated from intermaxillary tooth patch. Infraorbital pores number seven, supraorbital pores number four, and supratemporal and interorbital pores are absent. Snout is 18% to 24%, eye is 18% to 22%, and mouth length is 27% to 32% of head length. Head length is 17% to 19%, predorsal length is 16% to 19%, and preanal length is 41% to 47% of TL. Gill openings are longer than interbranchial space. Anus is distinctly anterior to midlength. Branchiostegal rays number 10, pectoral fin rays number 13 to 16, and lateral line pores to anus number 51 to 59. Total vertebrae number 158 to 174, predorsal vertebrae number 7 to 12, preanal vertebrae number 57 to 62, and precaudal vertebrae number 94.
Color is brown to yellowish brown, with median fins darker at margins. Stomach and intestines are pale.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from the Bahamas to the mouth of the Amazon, including the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
In the Gulf of Mexico it has been captured twice off Alabama
Habitat Associations
Between 220 and 549 m
Biology
Max length: 48.5 cm TL.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-02-04. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
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
Smith 1989f,k
Boschung 1992
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Bogutskaya, N.G. (2007) Preliminary assignment of coordinates to type localities in the Catalog of Fishes. Unpublished dbf file.
Miller, M.J., D. Stepputtis, S. Bonhommeau, M. Castonguay, M. Schaber, M. Vobach, K. Wysujack and R. Hanel (2013) Comparisons of catches of large leptocephali using an IKMT and a large pelagic trawl in the Sargasso Sea. Mar. Biodiv. 43:493-501.
Klautau, A.G.C.D.M., I.H.A. Cintra, M.M. Rotundo, A. Carvalho-Filho, R.A. Caires and A.P. Marceniuk (2020) The deep sea teleost fish fauna of the Brazilian North Coast. Neotropical Ichthyology 18:e200030.
Comments On Ariosoma selenops