Bathypterois grallator
No common name
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GNR
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Aulopiformes
Ipnopidae
Bathypterois
Bathypterois grallator
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
Body depth is 12.9% to 15.6%, head length is 26.1% to 28.7%, and snout length is 7.9% to 8.6% of SL. Teeth in jaws are recurved, barbed at tips, and arranged in a broad band, with those of premaxilla larger than those of lower jaw. Teeth also occur in vomer. Eye is minute and laterally directed. Branchiostegal rays number 10 or 11. Gill rakers on first arch number 8 or 9 on epibranch, 1 in corner, and 19 to 23 on lower limb. Pectoral fin consists of 2 rudimentary upper rays, 7 to 10 moderately long but gradually shorter rays, and 1 or 2 rudimentary lower rays. Dorsal fin has 12 or 13 rays and originates posterior to pelvic fin insertion and just anterior to anal fin origin. Pelvic fin has 8 rays, with first one greatly produced. Anal fin has 12 or 13 rays. Dorsal adipose fin is absent. Caudal fin has lower principal ray greatly elongated, but ventral procurrent rays are not modified into separate subcaudal notch. Scales are present on body, including gular fold, and lateral line scales number 52 to 54. Vertebrae number 53 or 54.
Color is black, with scale pockets and lateral line pores outlined in white.
Distribution
Along the eastern seaboard of the United States from about 40°N to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate Atlantic, Indian, and western and central Pacific Oceans; benthic, depth range 878 to 3,980 m.
Biology
Food consists of copepods and other small crustaceans.
Maximum known size is 300 mm SL or longer.
Benthic (Ref. 58302). Found on lower slope, continental rise and oceanic ridges. Solitary. Perches on substrate with the aid of specialized fin rays (tripod), facing the current. Feeds on nektonic copepods and other small planktonic crustaceans. Synchronously hermaphroditic (Ref. 6688).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-16. Resilience: Very low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
References
Mead 1966c
Sulak 1977
Sulak 1984c
Anderson et al. 1985
Crabtree et al. 1991
Merrett, N.R. (1990) Chlorophthalmidae. p. 351-360. 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.
Chave, E.H. and B.C. Mundy (1994) Deep-sea benthic fish of the Hawaiian Archipelago, Cross Seamount, and Johnston Atoll. Pac. Sci. 48:367-409.
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.
Mundy, B.C. (2005) Checklist of the fishes of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Mus. Bull. Zool. (6):1-704.
Comments On Bathypterois grallator