Lepidopus altifrons
Crested Scabbardfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Trichiuridae (Cutlassfishes)
Lepidopus
Lepidopus altifrons (Crested Scabbardfish)
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
Elongate, moderately slender, and compressed, with a prominent sagittal crest, eyes laterally located, and no notch between spinous and rayed sections of dorsal fin. Dorsal profile of head to dorsal fin origin is slightly elevated and nearly straight. Frontal crests on cranium converge anterior to orbits, and interorbital space is strongly convex. Sagittal crest on posterodorsal aspect of cranium extends through nape. Nostril is elliptical and located closer to anterior margin of eye than to tip of snout. Mouth is large, lower jaw projects slightly beyond upper jaw, and both jaws have short dermal processes at tips. Upper jaw has several fangs on side of symphysis and 15 to 20 lateral teeth. Lower jaw has 15 to 21 lateral teeth. Teeth are lacking on vomer, and several small teeth occur in palatine. Gill rakers on first arch number 17 or 18. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 15%–17%, body depth 8%–9%; and as percent of head length: snout length 37%–40%, eye length 19%–20%, upper jaw length 33%–36%. Pectoral fin is low on flank and has 12 rays. Dorsal fin consists of 90 to 96 elements. Pelvic fin inserts posterior to pectoral fin base and consists of a scalelike spine and 1 or 2 rays. Anal fin has 2 spines, the second of which is flat, triangular, and short, and 52 to 58 rays, with the last 19 to 23 connected by membrane. Caudal fin is small and forked. Lateral line is straight and slightly declined posteriorly.
Color is silvery to brownish and slightly darker along lateral line. Gill cavity is black.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from the Scotian Shelf to southern Brazil, including the northern and western Gulf of Mexico.
Northern and western Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Benthopelagic between 200 and 500 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 660 mm SL
Juveniles pelagic, adults benthopelagic (Ref. 12204).
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: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Tucker 1957 (as Evoxymetopon taeniatus)
Nakamura and Parin 1993 (as Lepidopus sp.)
Parin and Collette 1993
Parin et al. 2002b
Coad, B.W. (1995) Encyclopedia of Canadian fishes. Canadian Museum of Nature and Canadian Sportfishing Productions Inc. Singapore.
Figueiredo, J.L. and N.A. Menezes (2000) Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. VI.Teleostei (5). Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo. Brazil. 116 p.
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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