Leptostomias gladiator
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Leptostomias
Leptostomias gladiator
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 and very slender, with a short blunt, nonprotrusible snout; pelvic fin has 7 rays; IP number 10, PV number 39 to 44, and VAV number 20 to 22, with last 4 located over anal fin base; OV number 39 to 42, VAL number 20 to 22, and AC number 13; body depth is 5.5% to 10.1% and head length is 10% to 13.4% of SL; lower jaw is neither longer than upper jaw nor upturned at snout; premaxilla has seven or eight teeth; lower jaw has five to eight teeth; chin barbel is 33% to 75% of SL; barbel consists of slender stem, one or two filaments at base of stem and other filaments along stem and base of bulb, and one long slender bulb with short tubercles or bulbed filaments; pectoral fin consists of 11 unbranched rays of equal length; dorsal fin has 19 to 22 rays, and anal fin has 23 to 29 rays; preorbital and suborbital luminous organs are absent; Po is small and roundish; vertebrae number 77
Color is black
Distribution
eastern seaboard of the United States between 40°N and 25°N, in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Habitat Associations
subtropical to warm temperate seas; worldwide distribution
Biology
Food consists of myctophids
Maximum known size 370 mm SL
Mesopelagic species (Ref. 6808). Minimum depth from Ref. 58018.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-15. 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
Morrow and Gibbs 1964
Rass 1971
Gibbs 1984d
Gibbs 1986d
Sutton and Hopkins 1996, in press
Gibbs, R.H. Jr. (1986) Melanostomiidae. p. 236-243. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Gibbs, R.H. and M.A. Barnett (1990) Melanostomiidae. p. 308-337. 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. 1.
McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm (1998) Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. 1112p.
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.
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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