Halieutichthys aculeatus
Pancake Batfish
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lophiiformes (Anglerfish)
Ogcocephalidae (Batfishes)
Halieutichthys
Halieutichthys aculeatus (Pancake Batfish)
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.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Extremely depressed and approximately circular in outline, with a nearly terminal mouth and pectoral fins broadly attached to disc and tail. Rostrum resembles wide-based shelf, does not extend beyond anterior margin of disc, and has slightly upturned tip with trifid spine. Cranium does not rise above disc, and head depth is 38.5% to 40.8% of length of disc margin. Width of cranium is 46.3% to 53.5% of length of disc margin. Iris has pupillary operculum on ventral margin. Interorbital space is strongly concave, 15.1% to 19.6% of cranial width, and 18.7% to 23.5% of head depth. Mouth width is 63.6% to 73.8% of head depth and 25.7% to 28.4% of length of disc margin. Jaw length is 34.7% to 38.9% of head depth. Teeth are conical, retrorse, villiform, and in bands in jaws, tongue, vomer, and palatine. Gills are found on second and third gill arches and on anterior part of fourth gill arch. Pectoral fin is well developed and fanlike, with pedicle covered by skin joining fin to tail. Pectoral fin rays number 16, and rays lack fleshy lobes. Illicial cavity is conical. Esca is a single, rather narrow and elongated lobe. Second dorsal fin has 4 or 5 rays. Pelvic fin is narrow based and moderately flared distally, with fleshy pads on distal section of rays. Anal fin has 4 rays. Body is covered with enlarged, irregular-shaped tubercles with pitted surfaces. Ventral surface is naked. Lateral line scales are continuous, with additional lateral line scales along ventral surface of tail.
Color is tan to olive or yellowish gray with dark brown reticular pattern. Pectoral and caudal fins have broad, dark, diffuse crossbars.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina to northern South America, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Bahamas
Habitat Associations
Between 31 and 421 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 100 mm TL
Inhabits bare sandy bottom where, during the day, it rests partly covered by a thin layer of sand (Ref. 5521).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-09-16. 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
Goode and Bean 1896
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Hoese and Moore 1977
Castro-Aguirre and Marquez-Espinoza 1981
Uyeno et al. 1983
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Cervigon 1991
Boschung 1992
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Ho, H.-C., P. Chakrabarty and J.S. Sparks (2010) Review of the Halieutichthys aculeatus species complex (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae), with descriptions of two new species. J. Fish Biol. 77(4):841-869. DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02716.x
Comments On Halieutichthys aculeatus