Chaunax pictus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Chaunacidae (Gapers)
Chaunax
Chaunax pictus
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
Balloon shaped and slightly compressed, with very loose, flaccid skin bearing closely spaced spinelike scales, and an esca consisting of short, fleshy cirri and fitting into a strongly concave cavity. Head is 39.8% to 48% of SL. Premaxilla is 16.2% to 20.5% of SL, and postmaxillary process lacks deep notch. Articular bone has relatively short anteroventral process. Illicium is 3.9% to 6.1% and pre-illicial length is 3.1% to 6.2% of SL. Distance between urogenital pores and end of hypural plate is 27.3% to 36.8%, between posterior end of second dorsal fin base and hypural plate is 17.4% to 19.1%, and between posterior end of anal fin base and hypural plate is 13.3% to 18.6% of SL. Pectoral fin rays number 12 to 14, and anal fin rays number 6 or 7. Lateral line neuromast counts are: AB = 10-13, CD = 6-7, EF = 5-8, FG = 3, GH = 12-14, AC = 6-8, BD = 2-3, DG = 3, and BI = 29-42.
Color is pale tan or pinkish in preserved specimens. Illicial cavity is dark brown to black, illicium is pale, and esca is dark brown to black anterodorsally and translucent to white posteroventrally. Peritoneum is dusky. In life, color is light orange to rosy on flank, with fins and lips vermilion. Belly is nearly white suffused with flesh-colored or rosy blotches, and pelvic fin and anal fin are vermilion.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from the Bahamas to Guatemala, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Eastern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Between 272 and 622 m depth
Biology
Maximum known size is about 280 mm TL
Found on continental shelves and slopes, from approximately 200 m and below (Ref. 10756). A solitary species (Ref. 26340).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-09. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tm=2-4).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Uyeno et al. 1983
Caruso and Pietsch 1986
M. M. Smith 1986b
Caruso 1989
Smith, M.M. (1986) Chaunacidae. p. 369-370. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
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.
Duhamel, G. (1997) Deep-sea demersal ichthyofauna off the St. Paul and Amsterdam Islands (Central Southern Indian Ocean). p.185-194. In B. Séret and J.-Y. Sire (eds.), Proc. 5th Indo-Pac. Fish Conf., Nouméa, France.
Caruso, J.H. (2003) Chaunacidae. Sea toads (gapers, coffinfishes). p. 1052-1053. In K.E. Carpenter (ed.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae).
Heemstra, P.C., K. Hissmann, H. Fricke and M.J. Smale (2006) Fishes of the deep demersal habitat at Ngazidja (Grand Comoro) Island, Western Indian Ocean. South African J. Sci. 102(9/10):444-460.
Ho, H.-C. and P.R. Last (2013) Two new species of the coffinfish genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) from the Indian Ocean. Zootaxa 3710(5):436-448.
Comments On Chaunax pictus