Bathypterois phenax
No common name
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Aulopiformes
Ipnopidae
Bathypterois
Bathypterois phenax
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; upper pectoral fin rays thickened, greatly elongated, and superficially separated from lower rays; interior pelvic fin rays and lower caudal fin rays elongated. Body depth 11.7% to 15.1%, head length 23% to 24.1%, snout length 7.4% to 8.3% of SL. Teeth in jaws small, conical, and arranged in bands; teeth also occur in palatine and occasionally in vomer. Eye minute and directed laterally. First gill arch has 10 to 12 gill rakers on epibranch, 1 in corner, and 27 or 28 on lower limb. Branchiostegal rays number 12 or 13. Pectoral fin consists of 2 rudimentary upper rays; 2 thickened, stiffened, and greatly produced rays united for most of length; 1 short ray; 3 rudimentary rays; and 7 to 9 long lower rays. Dorsal fin originates behind pelvic fin insertion and has 14 or 15 rays. Pelvic fin has 9 rays, with first 2 stiffened and elongated. Anal fin has 9 rays. Dorsal adipose fin present. Caudal fin has lower ray or rays elongated. Last ventral procurrent caudal ray separated from first principal ray by notch and curved upward to form subcaudal notch. Scales present on body, except for gular fold. Lateral line scales number 55 to 60. Vertebrae number 53 or 54.
Color is black, with scale pockets and lateral line pores outlined in white.
Distribution
Off the east coast of the United States from about 39°N to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate Atlantic; depth range 827 to 2,651 m.
Biology
Maximum known size is 180mm SL.
Common on mid and lower continental slope. Rests on the bottom with the use of elongated, stiffened outer pelvic and lower caudal fin rays (tripod). Sensory pectoral fins are thrown forward in front of its head, facing the current. Feeds on benthopelagic plankton. Synchronously hermaphroditic (Ref. 6688). Spawning is seasonal with peak during fall in the Bahamas (Ref. 3590).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-15. Resilience: 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 1986e
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.
Sulak, K.J. (1986) Clorophthalmidae. p. 261-265. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Comments On Bathypterois phenax