Melanostomias valdiviae
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Stomiidae (Dragonfishes)
Melanostomias
Melanostomias valdiviae
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.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
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Characters
Elongate and moderately slender body; short, blunt, nonprotrusible snout; moderately short chin barbel with relatively short terminal expanded section; abdominal pelvic fins; body depth 9.6% to 12.7% and head length 11.7% to 15.3% of SL; lower jaw about as long as upper jaw and not upturned at tip; premaxilla with eight long, barbed teeth; lower jaw with eight or nine long, barbed teeth; chin barbel 8.9% to 23.2% of SL with slender stem and short, broad tip; pectoral fin poorly developed with 4 or 5 rays; dorsal fin with 12 to 16 rays; anal fin with 16 to 19 rays; pelvic fin with 7 rays; IP number 10 or 11, PV number 27, and VAV number 12 to 15; OV number 23 to 26, VAL number 11 to 15, and AC number 9 or 10; preorbital and suborbital luminous organs absent; Po about equal to eye diameter and triangular shaped
Black; barbel black with unpigmented tip
Distribution
Western Atlantic from about 40°N to about 8°N, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas, worldwide
Biology
Myctophids
230 mm SL
Also mesopelagic (Ref. 7300). Caught from deep water in the Hawaiian area.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-01. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Morrow and Gibbs 1964
Gibbs 1984d
Gibbs 1986d
Sutton and Hopkins 1996
Morrow, J.E. (1979) Melanostomiatidae. p. 134-141. In J.C. Hureau and Th. Monod (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and of the Mediterranean (CLOFNAM). UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
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.
Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott (1988) Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219:731 p.
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.
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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