Nettastoma melanurum
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Anguilliformes (True Eels)
Nettastomatidae (Duckbill Eels)
Nettastoma
Nettastoma melanurum
Description
This species account was compiled from
McEachran & Fechhelm (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
Elongate, round in cross section and compressed posteriorly, with upper jaw projecting beyond lower jaw and pectoral fins lacking. Snout is slender, elongate, and slightly depressed. Posterior nostril is slitlike or crescent shaped and located above anterior margin of eye. Jaw teeth are conical, small, and in narrow bands, with inner teeth larger than outer teeth. Intermaxillary tooth patch is short and continuous with maxillary teeth. Vomerine tooth patch is elongate, with median teeth larger than lateral teeth and slightly separated from intermaxillary teeth. Pterygoid teeth are absent. Snout is 35% to 44%, eye is 8% to 11%, and upper jaw is 51% to 62% of head length. Head length is 35% to 42% and predorsal length is 33% to 40% of preanal length. Branchiostegal rays number 9, and lateral line pores to anus number 43 to 49. Infraorbital pores number 15 to 17, supraorbital pores number 5 or 6, and supratemporal pores number 3. Total vertebrae number 195 to 207, predorsal vertebrae number 4 to 8, and preanal vertebrae number 44 to 50.
Brown to gray, with vertical fins edged in black.
Distribution
East coast of Florida and the northern Gulf of Mexico
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean, from 329 to 860 m and rarely from 37 m and 1,647 m
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Bohlke and Smith 1968
Smith et al. 1981
Uyeno et al. 1983
Smith 1989g,j
Boschung 1992
Comments On Nettastoma melanurum