Chaunax suttkusi
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Chaunacidae (Gapers)
Chaunax
Chaunax suttkusi
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 flat illicial cavity. Head is 38.4% to 45.4% of SL. Premaxilla is 16.2% to 20.6% of SL, and postmaxillary process lacks deep notch. Articular bone has relatively short anteroventral process. Illicium is 3.6% to 6.6% and pre-illicial length is 1.6% to 4.8% of SL. Premaxillary length is 16.2% to 20.6% of SL. Distance between urogenital pores and end of hypural plate is 28.2% to 37.7%, between posterior end of dorsal fin base and hypural plate is 14.8% to 21.7%, and between posterior end of anal fin base and hypural plate is 13.1% to 20.4% of SL. Pectoral fin rays number 10 to 13, and anal fin rays number 6 or 7. Lateral line neuromast counts are: AB = 10-13, CD = 5-8, EF = 5-8, FG = 3-5, GH = 12-17, AC = 6-8, BD = 2-3, DG = 3-5, and BI = 29-42.
Color is pale tan to pinkish, with illicial cavity pale but surrounded by pigment, illicium pale, and esca pale to dark brown. In life, color is pale to rosy pink dorsally and on distal section of anal fin. Some specimens have bright yellow circular spots on dorsal side of body.
Distribution
South Carolina to central Brazil, including the entire Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Entire Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
220 to 1,060 m and at temperatures between 6.1°C and 16.9°C
Biology
Off Venezuela, Caribbean Sea, 11°40'N, 62°33'W, 585-622 m.
Max length: 26.7 cm TL; max weight: 359 g.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-09.
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Caruso 1989
Boschung 1992
Caruso, J.H. (1989) Systematics and distribution of Atlantic chaunacid anglerfishes (Pisces: Lophiiformes). Copeia 1989(1):153-165.
Golani, D., L. Orsi Relini, E. Massutí and J.-P. Quignard (2002) CIESM Atlas of Exotic Species in the Mediterranean. Vol. 1. Fishes. F. Briand (ed.). 256 pages. CIESM Publishers, Monaco.
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).
Caruso, J.H., S.W. Ross, K.J. Sulak and G.R. Sedberry (2007) Deep-water chaunacid and lophiid anglerfishes (Pisces:Lophiiformes) off the south-eastern United States. J. Fish Biol. 70(4):1015-1026.
De La Hoz-M, J., J. Motta and J. Paramo (2016) Length-weight relationships for 36 deep sea fish in the Colombian Caribbean Sea. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 32:1356-1359. DOI: 10.1111/jai.13217
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