Ichthyococcus ovatus
No common name
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GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Phosichthyidae (Lightfishes)
Ichthyococcus
Ichthyococcus ovatus
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
Relatively short and moderately deep bodied, with a relatively small mouth, large eyes, and two rows of photophores. Premaxillary teeth are uniserial, of uniform size, and small. Teeth in posterior section of maxilla are small, close together, and slanted posteriorly. Vomer has few minute teeth, and palatine lacks teeth. Pseudobranch is absent. Gill filaments are long and are not fused at base. Gill rakers on first arch number 20 to 25 and are of moderate length. Branchiostegal rays number 10, with 4 on epihyal. Dorsal adipose fin base is about equal to anal fin base. Very small ventral adipose fin precedes anal fin. Anus is closer to origin of anal fin than to pelvic fin insertion. Dorsal fin and anal fin bases are about equal in length. Dorsal fin has 11 or 12 rays, and anal fin has 15 to 17 rays. Last dorsal and anal fin rays are split to base. Photophores are absent from symphysis of lower jaw. So is located anterior to eye, and Po is located midventral to eye. OP number 3, and BR number 11 or 12. IV number 24 to 26, and VAV plus AC number 21 to 24. Ok number 23 to 26. Vertebrae number 40 to 42.
Color is dark on dorsal surface, scale pockets are edged with dark pigment, and peritoneum is silvery.
Distribution
Along the eastern seaboard of the United States from 40°N to Florida, off Bermuda, and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Habitat Associations
Subtropical Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between 200 and 500 m for juveniles and adults, between the surface and 150 m for premetamorphic larvae, and between 400 and 750 m for postmetamorphic larvae.
Biology
Maximum known size is 50 mm SL.
Spawning may take place year-round, with a peak in late spring to early summer.
Does not exhibit diel vertical migrations (Ref. 4778). Spawning is probably year-round, peaking from late spring to early summer (Ref. 4778). Photophore complement complete at about 15-17 mm SL (Ref. 4778).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-23. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters listed in diagnostic_characters.
References
Grey 1964
Rass 1971
Bekker et al. 1975
Mukhacheva 1980b
Murdy et al. 1983
Badcock 1984c
Schaefer et al. 1986a
Schaefer, S., R.K. Johnson and J. Badcock (1986) Photichthyidae. p. 243-247. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Badcock, J. (1984) Photichthyidae. p. 318-324. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. volume 1. UNESCO, Paris.
Bigelow, H.B., D.M. Cohen, M.M. Dick, R.H. Gibbs Jr., M. Grey, J.E. Morrow Jr., L.P. Schultz and V. Walters (1964) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part four. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Yang, J., Z. Huang, S. Chen and Q. Li (1996) The Deep-Water Pelagic Fishes in the Area form Nansha Islands To the Northeast part of South China Sea. Science Publication Company, Beijing. 190 pp.
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.
Czudaj, S., C. Möllmann and H.O. Fock (2022) Length-weight relationships of 55 mesopelagic fishes from the eastern tropical North Atlantic: across- and within-species variation (body shape, growth stanza, condition factor). J. Fish Biol. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15068
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