Astronesthes indicus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Astronesthes
Astronesthes indicus
Description
This species account was compiled from
McEachran & Fechhelm (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 and moderately slender; enlarged, fanglike teeth in jaws; long, slender chin barbel; snout not upturned at tip; chin barbel length from slightly shorter than to about one and one-half times head length; tip of barbel expanded in form of thin flaps or moderately swollen bulb; maxillary teeth comblike, closely spaced, slanted posteriorly, numbering 16 to 24; gill rakers replaced with groups of small teeth; vomer with one tooth on each side; palatine with 8 to 12 teeth; dorsal fin origin distinctly posterior to pelvic fin insertion; distance from dorsal fin origin to caudal fin base 40% to 45% of SL; dorsal fin with 14 to 17 rays; anal fin with 13 to 16 rays; ventral adipose fin located anterior to anus; serial photophores not broken into small groups but few in number; IP number 5, PV number 5, VAV number 7 to 9, OV number 5 or 6, VAL number 6 to 8, AC number 7 to 9; Po organ minute
Color is black; large specimens possess luminous patches on dorsal and ventral aspects of operculum and over pelvic fin
Distribution
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Habitat Associations
Tropical and subtropical seas worldwide, generally between the surface and 100 m, but captured to 2,000 m; most specimens captured at night from the surface to 100 m
Biology
Food consists of euphausiids and copepods
Maximum known size is 100 mm SL
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Gibbs 1964a
Gibbs 1984a
Gibbs 1986b
Rass 1971
Sutton and Hopkins in press
Comments On Astronesthes indicus