Bathophilus nigerrimus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Bathophilus
Bathophilus nigerrimus
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.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Elongate and moderately slender body; moderately long, blunt snout; long chin barbel; pelvic fins near midline of flank. Body depth 16% to 20% and head length 21.5% to 25% of SL. Lower jaw equal to upper jaw, not turned up at tip. Premaxilla with 8 to 9 teeth, first, second, and fifth moderately long to long. Lower jaw with 9 or 10 teeth of variable length. Chin barbel very long, lacks bulbs and filaments. Pectoral fin with 31 to 57 free rays. Dorsal and anal fins with 13 to 15 rays. Pelvic fin with 16 to 24 free rays. IP number 4, PV number 12 or 13, VAV number 11 or 12. OV number 13, VAL number 9 to 12, AC number 5. Preorbital and suborbital luminous organs absent. Po kidney shaped, about equal to eye diameter. Entire body covered with small photophores.
Black with iridescent blue, green, or bronze cast.
Distribution
Eastern seaboard of the United States from 40°N to the Straits of Florida
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to subtropical seas between the surface and 500 m
Biology
Myctophids
120 mm SL
Mesopelagic species (Ref. 559).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-18. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tmax>3).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Morrow and Gibbs 1964
Barnett and Gibbs 1968
Rass 1971
Gibbs 1984d
Gibbs 1986d
Sutton and Hopkins 1996, in press
Gibbs, R.H. Jr. (1986) Melanostomiidae. p. 236-243. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Gibbs, R.H. and M.A. Barnett (1990) Melanostomiidae. p. 308-337. 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.
Gibbs, R.H. Jr. (1984) Melanostomiidae. p. 341-365. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
Sutton, T.T. and T.L. Hopkins (1996) Trophic ecology of the stomiid (Pisces: Stomiidae) fish assemblage of the eastern Gulf of Mexico: strategies, selectivity and impact of a top mesopelagic predator group. Mar. Biol. 127:179-192.
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.
Comments On Bathophilus nigerrimus