Aristostomias lunifer
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Aristostomias
Aristostomias lunifer
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.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
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Characters
Moderately elongate to moderately slender; body depth 14% to 16% and head length 22% to 23% of SL; snout length 21% to 23% and eye diameter 18% to 19% of head length; two nares on each side of snout; premaxilla with about 7 fixed teeth, maxilla with about 24 minute denticles, lower jaw with one fang and 16 or 17 small teeth; palatine with row of about 8 small teeth; chin barbel long and slender with elongated tapering bulb; pectoral fin with 7 or 8 rays, dorsal fin with 20, pelvic fin with 6, and anal fin with 26 to 29 rays; IP 8, PV 17, VAV 14 or 15, OV 18 or 19, VAL 16 to 18, AC 10 to 12; So crescent shaped and slightly longer than one-half eye diameter; Po below and behind eye.
Color is black; head and body scattered with small light organs.
Distribution
Cape Hatteras and Bermuda to the northeastern Gulf of Mexico
Northeastern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical waters, worldwide; midwater
Biology
Food consists of midwater fishes
Maximum known size is 170 mm SL
Mesopelagic species (Ref. 4469). Also Ref. 58302.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2015-02-09. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tmax>3).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Morrow 1964
Gibbs 1984
Goodyear and Gibbs 1986
Sutton and Hopkins in press
Goodyear, R.H. and R.H. Gibbs Jr. (1986) Malacosteidae. p. 235-236. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Goodyear, R.H. (1990) Malacosteidae. p. 338-340. 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.
Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott (1988) Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219:731 p.
McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm (1998) Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. 1112p.
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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