Astronesthes similus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Astronesthes
Astronesthes similus
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 relatively long, slender chin barbel. Snout not upturned at tip. Chin barbel about equal to one and one-fourth times head length. Tip of barbel expanded into bulb, longer than wide, and bears two filaments originating at about one-half bulb length. Maxillary teeth comblike, closely spaced, slanted posteriorly, and number 15 to 22. Gill rakers replaced by groups of small teeth. Vomer has 1 or 2 small teeth on each side, and palatine has 4 or 5 small teeth anteriorly. Dorsal fin origin moderately posterior to insertion of pelvic fin, and distance from dorsal fin origin to caudal fin base is 49% to 52% of SL. Dorsal fin has 11 to 14 rays, and anal fin has 18 to 21 rays. Ventral adipose fin located anterior to anus. Serial photophores not broken into small groups, and those of ventral row are straight. IP number 10 or 11, PV number 15 to 17, and VAV number 21 to 24. OV number 15 to 17, and VAL number 23 to 25. AC number 10 to 12. Po organ much smaller than eye and located near margin of fleshy orbit.
Color is black. Luminous patches are absent on head and body.
Distribution
Western Atlantic Ocean, eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea
Habitat Associations
Surface to 850 m, most frequently encountered between the surface and 200 m
Biology
Food consists of myctophids
Maximum known size is 150 mm SL
Feeds on fishes (Ref. 37039).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-10-11. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Parr 1927b
Regan and Trewavas 1929
Gibbs 1964a
Rass 1971
Murdy et al. 1983
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.
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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