Benthosema suborbitale
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Myctophiformes (Lanternfishes)
Myctophidae (Lanternfishes)
Benthosema
Benthosema suborbitale
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
Short, compressed, and somewhat deep bodied; moderate-sized mouth; anal fin base longer than dorsal fin base; snout slightly blunt; jaws extend less than one-half eye diameter beyond posterior margin of orbit; maxilla expanded posteriorly; head 33% and eye 12% of SL; posterior margin of operculum tapers to obtuse angle above pectoral fin base; gill rakers number 13 to 15; dorsal fin originates posterior to pelvic fin base and has 11 to 14 rays; pectoral fin extends to first or second AOa and has 12 to 14 rays; anal fin originates under posterior one-half of dorsal fin base and has 16 or 17 rays; Dn and Vn poorly developed; two PVO nearly horizontal, with PVOj over PO; PLO above upper end of pectoral fin base; five PO present; VLO anterior to pelvic fin base and closer to lateral line than to pelvic fin base; four VO present, with VO highly elevated over VOx; SAO form angle, with SAO above or slightly behind VO, and SAO over AOa; single Pol near lateral line; AOa number 6, and AOp number 4 to 6, with first over anal fin base; two Prc present, and Prc in contact with lateral line; supracaudal luminous gland present in males and infracaudal luminous gland present in females
Distribution
Cape Cod to northern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to subtropical waters worldwide; daytime depths range from 375 to 750 m, and nighttime depths range from 10 to 100 m, occasionally to 250 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 39 mm SL
Maturity reached at about 24 to 26 mm SL; life span approximately 10 months; average larval period 40 days; maturity in females reached in about 4 months at a size of 23 mm SL; fecundity ranges from 150 to 300 eggs and increases with body size; spawning repetitive, with interspawn periods of 14 days for youngest females and 1.5 days for largest females; spawning generally occurs after midnight between 25 and 50 m
High-oceanic, epipelagic to mesopelagic, found in 375-750 m during the day and near the surface to 125 m at night (Ref. 4066, 58302). Adults feed on zooplankton (Ref. 9835). Caudal glands develop in both sexes from about 1.9 cm (Ref. 4775). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 31442).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-07-10. Resilience: High (K=3.65; tm=0.4; tmax=0.9).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Nafpaktitis et al. 1977
Hulley 1984b
Hulley 1986b
Gartner et al. 1987
Gartner 1991
Gartner 1993
Hulley, P.A. (1986) Myctophidae. p. 282-321. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Hulley, P.A. (1990) Myctophidae. p. 398-467. 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.
Weitkamp, D.E. and R.D. Sullivan (2003) Gas bubble disease in resident fish of the lower Clark Fork River. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 132(5):865-876.
Moser, H.G. and E.H. Ahlstrom (1996) Myctophidae: lanternfishes. p. 387-475. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. 1505 p.
Comments On Benthosema suborbitale