Echiostoma barbatum
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Echiostoma
Echiostoma barbatum
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
Elongate and very slender, with a short, blunt, rounded snout; relatively short chin barbel; and abdominal pelvic fins. Body depth is 10% to 17% and head length is 14% to 17.1% of SL. Lower jaw is about equal in length to upper jaw and is not upturned at tip. Premaxilla has 9 to 11 curved, barbed fangs. Lower jaw has 15 to 35 fanglike, barbed teeth. Chin barbel is usually shorter than head length. Barbel has slender axis and two terminal bulbs in young specimens. Bulbs are largely replaced by series of terminal filaments in adults. Pectoral fin consists of 1 long ray distally separated from 3 short rays. Dorsal fin has 11 to 14 rays, and anal fin has 13 to 18 rays. Pelvic fin has 8 rays. IP number 10, PV number 25 to 28, and VAV number 14 to 18. OV number 24 to 27, VAL number 13 to 18, and AC number 11 to 13. Preorbital and suborbital luminous organs are absent. Po is one-half length or longer than eye diameter.
Color is black.
Distribution
Along the eastern seaboard of the United States from about 36°N to Argentina, about 40°S, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to subtropical seas, between 200 and 1,900 m.
Biology
Food consists of midwater fishes and shrimps.
Maximum known size is 370 mm SL.
Meso- to abyssopelagic (Ref. 58302).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-17. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
References
Morrow and Gibbs 1964
Krueger and Gibbs 1966
Rass 1971
Gibbs 1984d
Gibbs 1986d
Boschung 1992
Sutton and Hopkins 1996, in press
Gibbs, R.H. Jr. (1986) Melanostomiidae. p. 236-243. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Gibbs, R.H. and M.A. Barnett (1990) Melanostomiidae. p. 308-337. 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.
Sutton, T.T. and T.L. Hopkins (1996) Trophic ecology of the stomiid (Pisces: Stomiidae) fish assemblage of the eastern Gulf of Mexico: strategies, selectivity and impact of a top mesopelagic predator group. Mar. Biol. 127:179-192.
Mundy, B.C. (2005) Checklist of the fishes of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Mus. Bull. Zool. (6):1-704.
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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