Bufoceratias wedli
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Diceratiidae (Double Anglers)
Bufoceratias
Bufoceratias wedli
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. Metamorphosed females of Bufoceratias wedli differ from those of Bufoceratias shaoi in having a much smaller esca and a longer illicium (83-225% standard length versus 26-40% standard length), and from those of Bufoceratias thele in having distinct, anterior, posterior, and lateral escal appendages (Ref. 51070).
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to coastal waters off Suriname. Eastern Atlantic: off Portugal to coastal waters of Namibia, as far south as about 24°S. The single specimen recorded from the Okinawa Trough, East China Sea (Ref. 51075) is a misidentification of Bufoceratias thele.
Habitat Associations
Marine. bathypelagic. depth range 300-1750 m.
Biology
Mesopelagic and bathypelagic near or on continental shelf (Ref. 6939). Males and larvae unknown (Ref. 51070), probably dwarfed, non-parasitic (Ref. 6939). Minimum depth from Ref. 6613.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-09.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Pietsch, T.W. (1986) Diceratiidae. p. 376-377. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Bertelsen, E. (1990) Diceratiidae. p. 496-497. 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.
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.
Anderson, M.E. and R.W. Leslie (2001) Review of the deep-sea anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) of southern Africa. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 70:30 p.
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.
Pietsch, T.W., H.-C. Ho and H.-M. Chen (2004) Revision of the deep-sea anglerfish genus Bufoceratias Whitley (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei: Diceratiidae), with description of a new species from the Indo-West Pacific Ocean. Copeia 2004(1):98-107.
Pietsch, T.W. (2009) Oceanic anglerfishes. Extraordinary diversity in the deep sea. Oceanic Anglerfishes, i-xii; 1-557pp.
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