Melanolagus bericoides
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Argentiniformes
Bathylagidae (Deepsea Smelts)
Melanolagus
Melanolagus bericoides
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. More than two eyes; anal fin base longer than caudal peduncle; swim bladder absent; branchiostegal rays, two on each side; pectoral fins originating close to ventral surface of the body. Head and body black when fresh; scale pocket markings jet black (Ref. 13608). Branchiostegal rays: 2 (Ref. 35604). Also Ref. 41299. Striking features: striking eyes.
Distribution
Atlantic, Indian and Pacific: widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters. Eastern Pacific: California Current region (Ref. 35604).
Habitat Associations
Marine. bathypelagic. depth range 100-1700 m.
Biology
Mesopelagic, perhaps with diel migration (Ref. 58302). Usually caught singly, but also in small aggregations (Ref. 6345). Feed on plankton (Ref. 6345). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 35604). Minimum depth from Ref. 58018.
Max length: 20.0 cm SL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders. Oviparous (Ref. 35604).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-10. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Cohen, D.M. (1986) Bathylagidae. p. 215. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Cohen, D.M. (1990) Bathylagidae. p. 239-240. 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.
Cohen, D.M. (1984) Bathylagidae. p. 392-394. 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.
Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii (eds.) (1983) Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.
Moser, H.G. and E.H. Ahlstrom (1996) Bathylagidae: blacksmelts and smoothtounges. p. 188-207. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. 1505 p.
Love, M.S., C.W. Mecklenburg, T.A. Mecklenburg and L.K. Thorsteinson (2005) Resource inventory of marine and estuarine fishes of the West Coast and Alaska: A checklist of North Pacific and Arctic Ocean species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Seattle, Washington, 98104.
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