Platytroctes apus
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Platytroctidae (Tubeshoulders)
Platytroctes
Platytroctes apus
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
Relatively deep bodied and very compressed, with an acute snout and a deeply forked caudal fin. Snout length is slightly less than eye length and is about 7% of SL. Head length is about 30% of SL. Upper jaw extends to about anterior margin of pupil. Premaxilla lacks prominent anteriorly directed tooth (tusk). Symphysis of lower jaw lacks horizontal spine, and anterior part of lower jaw lacks series of forwardly directed teeth. Gill rakers on first gill arch number 29 to 40, including 8 to 11 on epibranch. Branchiostegal rays number 5 or 6. Upper and lower profiles of body are formed by fleshy keels, and keel along belly is as deep as caudal peduncle. Pectoral fin is low on flank, short, and has 19 to 25 rays. Dorsal fin is posteriorly located and has 17 to 21 rays. Pelvic fin is absent. Anal fin is below dorsal fin and has 15 to 19 rays. Body is covered with mostly keeled scales, which number 85 to 107 in lateral series. Photophores are absent.
Color is uniform dark with black band on upper and lower edges of caudal peduncle.
Distribution
In the western North Atlantic it occurs in the mid-Atlantic and in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to temperate seas from 385 m to deeper than 1,000 m.
Biology
Maximum known size is 180 mm SL.
Reported to reach the depth of 5,393 m (R.E. Pohl, pers. comm., 28/11/01).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-15. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tmax>3).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
References
Parr 1960
Quero et al. 1984
Quéro, J.-C., T. Matsui, R.H. Rosenblatt and Y.I. Sazonov (1990) Platytroctidae. p. 265-274. 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.
Quéro, J.-C., T. Matsui, R.H. Rosenblatt and Y.I. Sazonov (1984) Searsiidae. p. 256-267. 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.
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.
Randall, D.J. and A.P. Farrell (1997) Deepsea Fishes, Vol. 16. Academic Press, California USA.
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