Epigonus pectinifer
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Epigonidae (Deepwater Cardinalfishes)
Epigonus
Epigonus pectinifer
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
Opercular spine well-ossified and pungent; narrow caudal peduncle; head short to moderate in length; snout long and pointed; lower jaw extends slightly beyond upper jaw; maxilla extends to anterior one-third to one-half of eye length; teeth small, conical, in a single row in jaws and palatine, but may be absent in upper jaw and palatine; vomer with small patch of strong teeth; tongue generally has teeth; preopercular angle narrowly produced and serrated; opercular spine below two or three poorly ossified spinelets, separated by large gap; gill rakers 26-35, pectinate, with nublike projections along mesial surface; head length 31%-36% SL, head depth 14%-17% SL, interorbital width 8%-9% SL, caudal peduncle length 25%-29% SL, body depth 20%-32% SL; eye diameter 39%-45% head length; pectoral fin rays 15-18; first dorsal fin VII; second dorsal fin I, 9 (rarely 10); anal fin II, 9; lateral line scales 47-49; pyloric caecae 5-7; vertebrae 25 (10 precaudal, 15 caudal)
Brownish black on upper two-thirds of body, whitish on lower third; fin membranes black; mouth light
Distribution
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Western Atlantic and western Pacific Oceans, between 280 and 550 m depth
Biology
153 mm SL
A mesobenthic-pelagic species living mainly above the bottom (Ref. 31632). Found on or near continental slopes and seamounts (Ref. 559).
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
Masuda et al. 1984
Gon 2002b
Masuda, H., K. Amaoka, C. Araga, T. Uyeno and T. Yoshino (1984) The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Vol. 1. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Japan. 437 p. (text).
Abramov, A.A. (1992) Species composition and distribution of Epigonus (Epigonidae) in the world ocean. J. Ichthyol. 32(5):94-108.
Parin, N.V. and O.D. Borodulina (1986) Preliminary review of the bathypelagic fish genus Antigonia Lowe (Zeiformes, Caproidae). Trudy Inst. Okeanol. 121:141-172.
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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