Dibranchus atlanticus
Atlantic Batfish
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Ogcocephalidae (Batfishes)
Dibranchus
Dibranchus atlanticus (Atlantic Batfish)
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.)
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Characters
Depressed and arch shaped anteriorly, with a strong multifid subopercular spine. Rostrum is wide based and upturned at oblique tip. Cranium rises slightly above disc, and head depth is 46.4% to 47.4% of length of disc margin. Width of cranium is 47.2% to 51.9% of length of disc margin. Iris lacks pupillary operculum on ventral margin. Interorbital space is flat, 32.9% to 37.2% of cranial width and 34.5% to 39.5% of head depth. Mouth width is 85.6% to 95.9% of head depth and 40.2% to 45.5% of length of disc margin. Jaw length is 53.1% to 58.6% of head depth. Teeth are conical, retrorse, villiform, and in bands in jaws, tongue, vomer, and palatine. Gill filaments occur on second and third gill arches. Gill rakers are pedicle-like, with small teeth at distal ends. Pectoral fin is a well-developed armlike pedicle, is well separated from body, and has 13 to 15 rays. Ventral surface of pectoral rays lacks fleshy pads. Illicial cavity is about as high as it is wide. Esca has two prominent lateral lobes and a single fleshy median lobe. Second dorsal fin has 6 or 7 rays. Pelvic fin is narrow based, slightly flared distally, and has fleshy pads at tips of rays. Anal fin has 4 rays. Body is covered with simple tubercles and tubercles with multiple spines at apex. Largest tubercles are on trunk. Lateral line is disjunct; trunk section is separate from lateral line on tail.
Color is uniform reddish gray and slightly lighter ventrally in life, and uniform yellowish in preservative.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Rhode Island to northeastern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Lesser Antilles
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Atlantic Ocean between 22 and 523 m, generally between 360 and 500 m
Biology
Maximum known size is about 150 mm SL
Found on mud or sand-mud bottoms (Ref. 26999). Benthic adults are luminous (Ref. 40826). Feeds chiefly on polychaetes; bottom-living amphipods, bivalve molluscs, brittle stars, starfishes and sea spiders (Ref. 5951).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-09. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Goode and Bean 1896
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Hoese and Moore 1977
Uyeno et al. 1983
Cervigon 1991
Boschung 1992
Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott (1988) Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219:731 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.
Bradbury, M.G. (1999) A review of the fish genus Dibranchus with descriptions of new species and a new genus, Solocisquama (Lophiiformes, Ogcocephalidae). Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 51(5):259-310.
Comments On Dibranchus atlanticus