Photostylus pycnopterus
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Alepocephalidae (Slickheads)
Photostylus
Photostylus pycnopterus
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.
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Characters
Elongate, slender, and compressed body; moderately short, pointed snout; light organs on raised stalks; snout length slightly longer than eye length; head length about 17% of SL; maxilla extends near to posterior margin of eye; one supramaxilla present on dorsal margin of maxilla; premaxilla, maxilla, and dentaries with single series of small teeth; palatine with two small teeth; vomer lacks teeth; 6 branchiostegal rays; pectoral fin not fanlike with 17 to 20 rays; dorsal fin origin over origin of anal fin, with shorter base and 12 to 15 rays; anal fin with 16 to 19 rays; pelvic fin with 6 or 7 rays; body naked; small light organs scattered over head and body; three pyloric caecae
Brownish
Distribution
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Worldwide between 40°N and 35°S at depths of 1,000 to 2,000 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 110 mm SL
Ova reach 1.8 mm in diameter
Meso- and bathypelagic (Ref. 58302). Found in areas with steeply inclined slopes. Ovarian eggs relatively large (1.8 mm in diameter) and few (96 in a female of 10 cm).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-07-11. Resilience: Low (Fec=96).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Bekker et al. 1975
Markle and Quero 1984
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Markle, D.F. and J.-C. Quéro (1984) Alepocephalidae (including Bathylaconidae, Bathyprionidae). p. 228-253. 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. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1.
Hureau, J.-C. and T. Monod (eds.) (1979) Supplement. Check-list of the fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and of the Mediterranean. p.339-394. In J.-C. Hureau and Th. Monod (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and of the Mediterranean.United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France. Vols 1-2. 683 p.
Mundy, B.C. (2005) Checklist of the fishes of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Mus. Bull. Zool. (6):1-704.
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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