Melamphaes eulepis
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Melamphaidae (Ridgeheads)
Melamphaes
Melamphaes eulepis
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
Oblong and subcylindrical body shape; expanded head ridges; relatively long dorsal fin; intact scales; margins of head ridges wide and expanded; internarial spine anterior to eye indistinct; teeth in jaws arranged in bands (6-8 rows in upper jaw, 4-6 rows in lower jaw); gill rakers on first arch moderately long (4 on epibranch, 14 or 15 on lower limb); branchiostegal rays number 8; supramaxilla well developed; head length 37-40% SL; upper jaw 17-19% SL; predorsal length 42-45% SL; caudal peduncle length 23-26% SL; caudal peduncle depth 10-11% SL; pectoral fin rays 14 or 15; dorsal fin has 3 spines and 14-16 rays; pelvic fin has 1 spine and 7 or 8 rays; anal fin has 1 spine and 8 rays; scales relatively thick and platelike; scales from nape to caudal fin base 34-36; scales in diagonal series from anterior to dorsal fin origin to anterior to anal fin origin number 8; cheek scales number 2; head pores small; vertebrae number 29 or 30
Dark brown to blackish
Distribution
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical waters below 200 m
Biology
38 to 46 mm SL
Trawled at depths below 200 m (Ref. 4241).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-05-20. Resilience: Very low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Ebeling 1962
Ebeling and Weed 1973
Ebeling, A.W. (1986) Melamphaidae. p. 427-432. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Maul, G.E. (1990) Melamphaidae. p. 612-618. 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. 2.
Kotlyar, A.N. (2004) Family Melamphaidae Gill 1893, bigscales. Calif. Acad. Sci. Annotated Checklists of Fishes (29):11.
Afonso, G.V.F., F. Di Dario, L.N. Eduardo, F. Lucena-Frédou, A. Bertrand and M.M. Mincarone (2021) Taxonomy and distribution of deep-sea bigscales and whalefishes (Teleostei: Stephanoberycoidei) collected off Northeastern Brazil, including seamounts and Oceanic Islands. Ichthyol. Herp. 109(2):467-488.
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