Cryptopsaras couesii
Triplewart Seadevil
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Ceratiidae (Seadevils)
Cryptopsaras
Cryptopsaras couesii (Triplewart Seadevil)
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. A large median and two small lateral oval caruncles immediately in front of origin of dorsal fin (Ref. 13608). Branchiostegal rays: 6 (Ref. 36494).
Description: Characterized by having 8 caudal fin rays and conspicuous spine on anterodorsal margin of the subopercle. Distinguishing characteristics of metamorphosed female: tiny illicium, reduced to a small remnant; dorsal midline of the trunk with 2 club-shaped caruncles just anterior to soft dorsal-fin origin. Metamorphosed males: longer anterior pair of lower denticular teeth compared to posterior pair; larvae, males and juvenile females have subdermal pigment on gill cover, dorsal surface of trunk and caudal peduncle (Ref. 86949).
Distribution
Circumglobal: tropical and subtropical.
Habitat Associations
Marine. bathypelagic. depth range 0-3085 m.
Biology
Males dwarfed, becoming parasitic on females. Maximum size of free-living males is 1.05 cm (Ref. 4494). Females are oviparous, with planktonic larvae (Ref. 36494). Eggs are presumably contained in floating gelatinous rafts (Ref. 36494 ).
Max length: 7.3 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders. Females are oviparous, males are parasitic (Ref. 36494).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-09. Resilience: Medium (tm=5).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Pietsch, T.W. (1986) Ceratiidae. p. 373-375. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Bertelsen, E. (1990) Ceratiidae. p. 510-512. 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.
Pauly, D. and V. Christensen (1993) Stratified models of large marine ecosystems: a general approach, and an application to the South China Sea. p. 148-174. In K. Sherman, L.M. Alexander and B.D. Gold (eds.) Stress, Mitigation and Sustainability of Large Marine Ecosystems. AAAS Press, Washington, DC. 376 p.
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.
Watson, W. (1996) Ceratiidae: seadevils. p. 582-587. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Hopkins, T.L., T.T. Sutton and T.M. Lancraft (1996) The trophic structure and predation impact of a low latitude midwater fish assemblage. Prog. Oceanog. 38:205-239.
Bogutskaya, N.G. (2007) Preliminary assignment of coordinates to type localities in the Catalog of Fishes. Unpublished dbf file.
Stewart, A.L. and T.W. Pietsch (1998) The ceratioid anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) of New Zealand. J. The Royal Society of New Zealand. Vol. 28(1):1-37.
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