Lepophidium profundorum
Fawn Cusk-Eel
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Ophidiiformes (Pearlfishes and others)
Ophidiidae (Cusk-Eels)
Lepophidium
Lepophidium profundorum (Fawn Cusk-Eel)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. This species possess the following characters: usually with 15 precaudal, 58-59 caudal, and 74-76 total vertebral counts; number of fin rays usually in dorsal 131-137, anal 112-117, pectoral 21-23; pyloric caeca 3 (2-4) in tiers of 2-3 caeca in the first and one in the second; total gill rakers on first arch 9-11 (8-13). Colour of head and body tan to brown, belly whitish; a conspicuous and diagnostic series of 14-23 pale spots, which are slightly smaller than the eye but larger than the pupil, extending from just behind the opercle to the caudal-fin base; a second series of smaller pale spots running along the anterior part of the body just below the dorsal-fin base (spots largely disappear in old museum specimens); dorsal and anal fins dark-edged posteriorly; gill chamber, gill bars, esophagus and the roof of the mouth behind the vomer and between the palatines blackish; stomach and hindgut unpigmented (Ref. 91765).
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Georges Bank, Canada to the Florida Keys and the northern and eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 29-399 m.
Biology
Uncommon species (Ref. 34024). Oviparous, with oval pelagic eggs floating in a gelatinous mass (Ref. 205).
Max length: 28.0 cm TL; common length: 22.0 cm TL; max weight: 95 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: bycatch.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
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.
Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein (2000) Food of northwest Atlantic fishes and two common species of squid. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE 155, 138 p.
Wigley, S.E., H.M. McBride and N.J. McHugh (2003) Length-weight relationships for 74 fish species collected during NEFSC research vessel bottom trawl surveys, 1992-99. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-NE-171. 26 p.
Robins, C.R., R.H. Robins and M.E. Brown (2012) A revision of Lepophidium (Teleoastei, Ophidiidae), with descriptions of eight new species. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 52(1):1-94.
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