Astronesthes richardsoni
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Astronesthes
Astronesthes richardsoni
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 and moderately slender, with enlarged, fanglike teeth in the jaws and a moderately long chin barbel. Snout is not upturned at tip. Chin barbel is one-half to slightly greater than one-half head length. Tip of barbel is not expanded. Maxillary teeth are closely spaced, slanted posteriorly, and number 11 to 18. Gill rakers are replaced by groups of small teeth. Vomer has 1 small tooth on each side, and palatine has up to 4 small teeth anteriorly. Dorsal fin is distinctly posterior to pelvic fin insertion, and distance from dorsal fin origin to caudal fin base is 43% to 46% of SL. Dorsal fin has 12 to 14 rays, and anal fin has 13 to 18 rays. Ventral adipose fin is located anterior to anus. Serial photophores are not broken into small groups, and those of ventral row are straight. IP number 10 or 11, PV number 15 to 27, and VAV number 19 to 22. OV number 14 or 15, and VAL number 19 to 22. AC number 11 or 12. Po organ is considerably smaller than eye and is located on margin of fleshy orbit. Luminous patches are present on margin of pre-operculum.
Color is black.
Distribution
Western Atlantic, western Gulf of Mexico (20°48'N, 95°48'W), and Caribbean Sea
Western Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical Atlantic Ocean between the surface and 1,000 m, most abundant between the surface and 300 m
Biology
Food consists of euphausiids and fishes
Maximum known size is 145 mm SL
Oceanic, usually living deeper than 500 m during the day. Smaller individuals migrate to the surface at night. Possibly feeding on crustaceans and fishes (Ref. 58426). Minimum depth from Ref. 58018.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-02-04. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tmax>3).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Gibbs 1964a
Bekker et al. 1975
Murdy et al. 1983
Sutton and Hopkins in press
Gibbs, R.H. Jr. (1990) Astronesthidae. p. 300-307. 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.
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.
Bigelow, H.B., D.M. Cohen, M.M. Dick, R.H. Gibbs Jr., M. Grey, J.E. Morrow Jr., L.P. Schultz and V. Walters (1964) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part four. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Coad, B.W. and J.D. Reist (2004) Annotated list of the arctic marine fishes of Canada. Can. MS Rep. Fish Aquat. Sci. 2674:iv:+112 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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