Astronesthes niger
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Astronesthes
Astronesthes niger
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.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
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Characters
Moderately elongate and moderately slender, with enlarged, fanglike teeth in the jaws and a long, slender chin barbel. Snout is not upturned at tip. Chin barbel is slightly less than, to 1.7 times, head length. Distal one-third to one-half of barbel is swollen. Maxillary teeth are comblike, closely spaced, slanted posteriorly, and number 11 to 17. Gill rakers are replaced with groups of small teeth. Vomer has single tooth on each side, and palatine usually has 4 or 5 prominent teeth and 6 to 10 small teeth. Dorsal fin origin is slightly to moderately posterior to pelvic fin insertion, and distance from dorsal fin origin to caudal fin base is 46% to 57% of SL. Dorsal fin has 15 to 17 rays, and anal fin has 12 to 15 rays. Ventral adipose fin is located anterior to anus. Serial photophores are not broken into small groups, and those of ventral row form U-shaped pattern near base of pectoral fin. IP number 8 or 9, PV number 12 to 15, and VAV number 18 to 21. OV number 13 to 15, and VAL number 19 to 22. AC number 10 to 12. Po organ is smaller than eye and located near rim of fleshy orbit. Luminescent patches occur on head anterior to eye, on upper jaw above nares, above eye, on body above pectoral fin, and above lateral photophore row.
Color is black.
Distribution
Along the eastern seaboard of North America from about 40°N to the equator, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to subtropical seas between the surface and 1,000 m, but is most commonly captured between the surface and 100 m at night.
Biology
Food consists of euphausiids, amphipods, and myctophids.
Maximum known size is 160 mm SL.
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the genus by the combination of characters described.
References
Gibbs 1964a
Gibbs 1984a
Gibbs 1986b
Rass 1971
Sutton and Hopkins in press
Comments On Astronesthes niger