Grammicolepis brachiusculus
Thorny Tinselfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Zeiformes (Dories)
Grammicolepidae (Diamond Dories)
Grammicolepis
Grammicolepis brachiusculus (Thorny Tinselfish)
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
Moderately to very deep bodied and compressed, with a very small terminal mouth and relatively long dorsal and anal fins. Gill rakers on first arch are rudimentary and number 1 or 2 on epibranch and 12 on lower limb. Head length is 26.3% to 31.3% of SL in prejuveniles and 22.7% to 23.8% of SL in adults; body depth is 62.5% to 71.4% of SL in prejuveniles and 43.5% to 50% of SL in adults. Pectoral fin has 14 or 15 rays, and dorsal fin has six or seven spines and 32 to 35 rays. Anal fin is preceded by two free spines and has 33 to 35 rays. In prejuveniles, anal fin origin is about opposite dorsal fin origin, but in adults, anal fin origin is distinctly posterior to dorsal fin origin. Prejuveniles have 29 to 34 spiny scutes at base of dorsal fin rays and 27 spiny scutes at base of anal fin rays, but adults lack these scutes. Lateral line is strongly arched anteriorly in prejuveniles but weakly arched anteriorly in adults. Metamorphosis from prejuvenile to juvenile stages occurs at about 25 to 30 cm SL.
Color is silvery. Juveniles have irregular black blotches on body, five black bars on anal fin, and black spots on caudal fin.
Distribution
From Georges Bank to southern Florida and the Bahamas between 250 and 900 m.
Habitat Associations
On or near the bottom between 250 and 900 m in tropical to warm temperate latitudes.
Biology
Maximum known size is 50 cm SL.
Found in deep midwater or near bottom (Ref. 6749); benthopelagic (Ref. 52595). Caught by bottom trawl, bottom lines and drift gill net (Ref. 87951).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-04-18. Resilience: Low (Assuming tmax > 10).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Myers 1937
Uyeno et al. 1983 (as Daramatturus americanus)
Karrer and Heemstra 1986
Quero 1986b
C. R. Robins et al. 1986 (as Daramatturus americanus)
Karrer, C. and P.C. Heemstra (1986) Grammicolepididae. p. 440-441. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Karrer, C. (1990) Grammicolepididae. p. 634-636. 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. 2.
Hureau, J.-C. (1991) La base de données GICIM: Gestion informatisée des collections ichthyologiques du Muséum. p. 225-227. In Atlas Préliminaire des Poissons d'Eau Douce de France. Conseil Supérieur de la Pêche, Ministère de l'Environnement, CEMAGREF et Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.
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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