Myctophum nitidulum
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Myctophiformes (Lanternfishes)
Myctophidae (Lanternfishes)
Myctophum
Myctophum nitidulum
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
Moderately slender and compressed; moderately large mouth; anal fin base longer than dorsal fin base; snout blunt; jaws extend slightly beyond posterior orbital margin; maxilla slightly expanded posteriorly; posterior margin of operculum forms obtuse angle; posterodorsal margin sharply angular; gill rakers 18-22; dorsal fin originates over pelvic fin base with 13 or 14 rays; pectoral fin extends to VO with 13 or 14 rays; anal fin originates over or slightly anterior to end of dorsal fin base with 19 or 20 rays; Dn and Vn small; PVO1 and PVO2 in straight line with POx; PLO closer to upper end of pectoral fin base than to lateral line; 5 PO; VLO midway between lateral line and pelvic fin base; 4 VO; SAO in straight line; SAO3 over or slightly posterior to anal fin origin; Single Pol about 0.5 times its diameter below lateral line; AOa 8-10; AOp 4-6; 2 Prc separate from AOp series; males with supracaudal luminous gland of 6-7 overlapping scalelike structures; females with infracaudal luminous gland of 3-5 oval-shaped patches
Distribution
Cape Cod to northern Argentina, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to subtropical waters worldwide; daytime depths 475-850 m, nighttime depths surface to 200 m for larger specimens and 400-950 m for smaller specimens
Biology
Maximum known size 99 mm SL
Maturity reached at about 55 mm SL
High-oceanic, nyctoepipelagic at the surface and to 950 m and generally found between 475-850 m during the day (Ref. 4479). Neustonic to mesopelagic (Ref. 58302). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 31442). Lipid content is 3.8 % in fresh body weight and wax ester is 10.6 % in total lipids (Ref. 9193). Females reach sexual maturity at 4.8 cm, males at 3.5 cm (Ref. 47377).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-07-11. Resilience: Medium (K=0.42; tm=3).
References
Nafpaktitis et al. 1977
Uyeno et al. 1983
Hulley 1984b
Hulley 1986b
Gartner et al. 1987
Palomares, M.L.D. and D. Pauly (1989) A multiple regression model for predicting the food consumption of marine fish populations. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 40(3):259-273.
Hulley, P.A. (1986) Myctophidae. p. 282-321. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Hulley, P.A. (1990) Myctophidae. p. 398-467. 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.
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.
Shinohara, G., H. Endo and K. Matsuura (1996) Deep-water fishes collected from the Pacific Coast of Northern Honshu, Japan. Mem. Natn. Sci. Mus., Tokyo (29):153-185.
Moser, H.G. and E.H. Ahlstrom (1996) Myctophidae: lanternfishes. p. 387-475. 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.
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