Chauliodus sloani
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Chauliodus
Chauliodus sloani
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
Body depth is 5.8% to 10.5% and head length is 10.5% to 16.3% of SL. Pre-maxilla has four fanglike teeth; second is longest, fourth is longer than third, and second and often third and fourth are barbed. Lower jaw has five to nine teeth; first is longest, second is small, third is larger than second, and remainder are progressively smaller posteriorly. Branchiostegal rays number 14 to 17. Pectoral fin has 11 to 14 rays. Dorsal fin originates between 17% and 28% of SL, over fourth to eighth photophore of lateral series, and has 5 to 7 rays, with first considerably longer than remainder. Anal fin has 10 to 13 rays. IP number 8 to 11, PV number 17 to 23, and VAV number 23 to 30. OV number 17 to 22, and VAL number 23 and 29. AC number 9 to 13. Preorbital and postorbital photophores and minute suborbital photophores are present. Small photophores also occur on branchiostegal membrane; operculum; pectoral, pelvic, and anal fin bases; and beneath scales.
Color is black to brown or dusky green to silvery. Body is marked with five rows of hexagonal pigmented areas outlining scale pockets.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs from Browns Bank, 43°N, to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Worldwide from tropical to temperate seas. Depth range: during the day 1,000 to 1,800 m, and during the night near the surface to 800 m. In the eastern Gulf of Mexico it ranges between 450 and 700 m during the daytime.
Biology
Food consists mostly of myctophid fishes.
Maximum known size is over 300 mm SL.
Spawning takes place year-round with a peak in late winter to early spring.
Inhabits deep oceanic waters to more than 1,000 m depth; may migrate to near-surface waters at night (Ref. 4759). Up to depth of 1800 m (Ref. 47377). Depth range 473-1192 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Meso- and bathypelagic from near the surface to 2800 m (Ref. 58302). Oviparous (Ref. 5951). Feeds on midwater fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 4759); mainly on myctophids (Ref. 5951). Lipid content is 2.4 % in fresh body weight and wax ester is 7.2 % in total lipids (Ref. 9193). Minimum depth from Ref. 58018.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-02. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
It is distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: bycatch.
References
Morrow 1961
Morrow 1964a
Rass 1971
Parin and Novikova 1974
Bekker et al. 1975
Murdy et al. 1983
Gibbs 1984b
Gibbs 1986a
Boschung 1992
Sutton and Hopkins 1996
Sutton and Hopkins in press
Masuda, H., K. Amaoka, C. Araga, T. Uyeno and T. Yoshino (1984) The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Vol. 1. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan. 437 p. (text).
Parin, N.V. (1990) Chauliodontidae. p. 293-295. 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.
Gibbs, R.H. Jr. (1986) Chauliodontidae. p. 230. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Gibbs, R.H. Jr. (1984) Chauliodontidae. p. 336-337. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Williams, A., J.A. Koslow, A. Terauds and K. Haskard (2001) Feeding ecology of five fishes from the mid-slope micronekton community off southern Tasmania, Australia. Mar. Sci. 139:1177-1192.
Yang, J., Z. Huang, S. Chen and Q. Li (1996) The Deep-Water Pelagic Fishes in the Area form Nansha Islands To the Northeast part of South China Sea. Science Publication Company, Beijing. 190 pp.
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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