Brotulotaenia brevicauda
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Ophidiiformes (Pearlfishes and others)
Ophidiidae (Cusk-Eels)
Brotulotaenia
Brotulotaenia brevicauda
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, compressed, and tapering posteriorly behind head; small pectoral fins and no pelvic fins; snout moderately blunt and relatively long; mouth large and moderately oblique; teeth in jaws, vomer, and palatine; first gill arch with four gill rakers and 10 to 12 tubercles; opercular spine absent; branchiostegal rays number 7; basibranchial tooth patch absent; head length 24.2% to 31.3%, snout length 7% to 9.7%, eye diameter 3.2% to 6.9%, predorsal length 20.9% to 26.3%, preanal length 43.5% to 50.3%, and body depth at vent 11.6% to 18.1% of SL; pectoral fin small with 21 to 24 rays; dorsal fin originates anterior to pectoral fin base with 79 to 84 rays; anal fin with 58 to 64 rays, and caudal fin with 9 rays; body and head covered with minute, adherent, nonimbricate, prickly scales; lateral line well developed on head; trunk vertebrae number 13, and total vertebrae number 63 to 66
Dark brown to black, with belly purple; small specimens have five to seven pairs of dusky blotches along dorsal and anal fin bases
Distribution
Western Atlantic off Bermuda, in the western Gulf of Mexico
Western Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to temperate Atlantic, between the surface and 2,650 m; mesopelagic or bathypelagic
Biology
Maximum known size is 300 mm SL
Uncommon species (Ref. 34024). Reproductive strategy possibly similar to other members of this family featuring oviparity, with oval pelagic eggs floating in a gelatinous mass (Ref. 205).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-10-11. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Cohen 1974
Nielsen 1986b
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Nielsen, J.G. (1990) Ophidiidae. p. 564-573. 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. 2.
Bañón, R., E. Rodríguez-Marín and M. Covelo (1999) New northern limit for the distribution of Brotulotaenia brevicauda (Ophidiiformes, Ophidiidae) and Pseudoscopelus scriptus (Perciformes, Chiasmodontidae) in the Atlantic. Cybium 23(2):189-194.
Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle and C.R. Robins (1999) Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(18):178p. Rome: FAO.
Hureau, J.-C. and T. Monod (eds.) (1979) Supplement. Check-list of the fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and of the Mediterranean. p.339-394. In J.-C. Hureau and Th. Monod (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and of the Mediterranean.United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France. Vols 1-2. 683 p.
Comments On Brotulotaenia brevicauda