Neoepinnula americana
American Sackfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gempylidae (Snake Mackerels)
Neoepinnula
Neoepinnula americana (American Sackfish)
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 elongate and compressed, with a double lateral line and dorsal fin origin above angle of opercular opening. Head is moderately sloping from snout to dorsal fin origin. Anterior naris is located about midway between tip of snout and anterior margin of eye, and posterior naris is elliptical and located midway between anterior naris and anterior margin of eye. Lower jaw projects beyond upper jaw, and both jaws lack dermal processes on tips. Maxilla is exposed when mouth is closed. Upper jaw has three fangs near symphysis, followed by a row of widely spaced small canine teeth. Lower jaw has a single fang on side of symphysis, followed by a row of widely spaced caninelike teeth. Vomer and palatine have small, sharp-pointed teeth. Operculum has 2 flat spines along posterior margin. Numerous short, spinelike gill rakers are located on first gill arch. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 28%–29%, snout length 10%–11%, eye diameter 5%–6%, upper jaw length 13%–14%, predorsal-fin length 24%–27%, body depth 22%–24%. Pectoral fin has 15 or 16 rays. First dorsal fin has 16 spines. Second dorsal fin is located immediately behind first, is less than half the length of first dorsal fin, and has 1 spine and 17 to 20 rays. Pelvic fin is smaller than pectoral fin, inserts posterior to pectoral fin base, and consists of 1 spine and 5 rays. Anal fin is similar to second dorsal fin in shape and position and has 2 free spines, followed by 1 spine and 17 to 20 rays connected by membranes. Lateral line is double, and both branches originate above upper angle of gill opening.
Color is brown dorsally and silvery on side and ventrally, with mouth cavity pale and branchial cavity pale to dusky.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from the northern and western Gulf of Mexico and Bermuda to northern Brazil, including the Greater Antilles.
Northern and western Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
On or near the bottom between 166 and 457 m
Biology
226 mm SL
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-10-12. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Mead 1951 (as Epinnula orientalis)
Grey 1953, 1959, 1960 (as E. orientalis americana)
Fujii 1983e
Boschung 1992 (as E. orientalis)
Nakamura and Parin 1993
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Parin et al. 2002a
Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin (1993) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 15. Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world (families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels, snoeks, escolars, gemfishes, sackfishes, domine, oilfish, cutlassfishes,. scabbardfishes, hairtails, and frostfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(15):136 p.
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.
Comments On Neoepinnula americana