Eurypharynx pelecanoides
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Eurypharyngidae (Pelican Eel)
Eurypharynx
Eurypharynx pelecanoides
Description
This species account was compiled from
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Characters
Body shape: eel-like. Mouth greatly enlarged by a backward extension of jaws, gape comprising half or more of preanal length; buccal cavity greatly distensible. Tail attenuated and ending in an expanded, luminous caudal organ. Caudal fin absent; scales absent; lateral line without pores, instead with groups of elevated tubules. Striking features: light organs.
Distribution
Circumglobal: In tropical to temperate waters. Eastern Pacific: ranges from northern California to Peru (Ref. 35600).
Habitat Associations
Marine. bathypelagic. depth range 500-7625 m.
Biology
Meso- to abyssopelagic (Ref. 58302) and bathypelagic (Ref. 58426). Adults feed mainly on crustaceans, but also take fishes, cephalopods, and other invertebrates (Ref. 2850, 11041). Oviparous, planktonic eggs hatch into planktonic leptocephalus larvae (Ref. 6719, 35600). Degenerative changes in males and females suggest semelparity (Ref. 35600).
Max length: 100.0 cm TL; common length: 55.0 cm NG.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 35600). Degenerative changes in males and females suggest semelparity (Ref. 35600). Egg cells within each of the gonads have the same developmental stage (monocyclic ovaries) suggesting only one spawning during its lifetime or periodic spawning (Ref. 36055).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-05-24. Resilience: Very low (Assuming semelparity with tm>10).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Nielsen, J.G. and E. Bertelsen (1990) Eurypharyngidae. p. 206. 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.
Fitch, J.E. and R.J. Lavenberg (1968) Deep-water teleostean fishes of California. California Natural History Guides:25. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. 115 p.
Smith, D.G. (1997) Eurypharyngidae. Gulper eels. p. 1695. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the WCP. Vol. 3. Batoid fishes, chimaeras and bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome.
Reiner, F. (1996) Catálogo dos peixes do arquipélago de Cabo Verde. Publ. Avuls. Inst. Port. Invest. Mar. 2:339 p.
Charter, S.R. (1996) Eurypharyngidae: umbrellamouth gulpers. p. 155-157. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Coad, B.W. and J.D. Reist (2004) Annotated list of the arctic marine fishes of Canada. Can. MS Rep. Fish Aquat. Sci. 2674:iv:+112 p.
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