Benthodesmus simonyi
North Atlantic Frostfish
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Trichiuridae (Cutlassfishes)
Benthodesmus
Benthodesmus simonyi (North Atlantic Frostfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (Carpenter, K.E. (ed.) 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. FAO, Rome.)
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.
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Synonymy
Benthodesmus atlanticus Goode and Bean, 1896 / None.
Characters
Body extremely elongated. Depth 22.0 to 27.1 in st andard length. Head 7.0 to 8.0 in
st andard length, with upper profile smooth, gently rising from tip of snout to dorsal-fin origin. Interorbital
space and nape flattened, without sagittal crest. Eye 5.1 to 5.8 in head, situated near dorsal contour. Dor-
sal fin with 36 to 39 spines and 92 to 99 soft rays (tot ally 129 to 137 fin elements), partly divided by deep
notch, base of spinous part about twice shorter than soft part. Anal fin with 2 free close-set spines
well-detached from the rest of fin, the second spine delicate, of cardi form shape, and 93 to 102 soft rays (exter-
nal soft rays developed only in last third of fin base). Caudal fin forked. Pelvic fins diminutive, composed of a
scale-like spine and a rudimentary ray, inserted well behind pectoral-fin base. Vertebrae 153 to 158. Col-
our: body silvery, jaws and opercle blackish.
Body shape: eel-like. Body silvery, jaws and opercle blackish. The inside of the mouth and gill cavities black. Striking features: striking shape of body.
Distribution
The North Atlantic Ocean. Within
the area known from off Bermuda Isl ands.
Habitat Associations
Benthopelagic
at 200 to 900 m on continental slope and under-
water rises; juveniles mesopelagic.
Biology
Maximum 1.3 m st andard length.
Found on continental slope and underwater rises. Juveniles mesopelagic.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-10-12. Resilience: Low (Assuming tmax>10).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Of no impor-
tance to fisheries.
References
Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin (1993) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 15. Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world (families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels, snoeks, escolars, gemfishes, sackfishes, domine, oilfish, cutlassfishes,. scabbardfishes, hairtails, and frostfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(15):136 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.
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