Epigonus oligolepis
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Epigonidae (Deepwater Cardinalfishes)
Epigonus
Epigonus oligolepis
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
Weak, poorly ossified opercular spine; few or no teeth in upper jaw; head moderate to long; snout moderately long and pointed; maxilla extends from anterior two-fifths to one-half of eye length; lower jaw with one or two rows of teeth; vomer with irregular tooth patches; palatine with one to multiple tooth rows; tongue with tooth patches; preopercular angle rectangular or lightly produced; opercular spine below two to six membranous spinelts and separated from spinelets by gap; gill rakers simple and awl-like, 29 to 31; measurements (% SL): head length 34%–43%, head depth 17%–19%, interorbital width 9%–10%, caudal peduncle length 24%–27%, body depth 20%–25%; measurements (% head length): eye diameter 40%–44%; pectoral fins with 16 to 18 rays; first dorsal fin with seven spines; second dorsal fin with one spine and 10 rays; anal fin with two spines and 9 rays (rarely 8); lateral line scales 33 to 36; pyloric caecae 8 to 10; vertebrae 25 (10 precaudal, 15 caudal)
Gray to black in life, slightly darker dorsally than ventrally; in preservative, light and variable in color
Distribution
Western Atlantic off southern Florida, northern Gulf of Mexico
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Depth range: 380–660 m
Biology
Maximum known size: 127 mm SL
A mesobenthic-pelagic species living mainly above the bottom (Ref. 31632).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-10-12. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of potential interest.
References
Mayer 1974
Gon 2002b
Abramov, A.A. (1992) Species composition and distribution of Epigonus (Epigonidae) in the world ocean. J. Ichthyol. 32(5):94-108.
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.
Okamoto, M., C.C. Baldwin and D.J. Long (2024) Two new species of the deepwater cardinalfsh genus Epigonus (Epigonidae) from deep reefs of Curaçao, southern Caribbean. Ichthyol. Res. 1-10. DOI: 10.1007/s10228-024-00948-2
Comments On Epigonus oligolepis