Polymixia lowei
Beardfish
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Polymixiformes
Polymixiidae (Beardfishes)
Polymixia
Polymixia lowei (Beardfish)
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
Moderate depth and moderately compressed body, tapering caudal peduncle, relatively short dorsal fin. Adipose snout rounded and extending beyond premaxilla. Lower jaw short and fitting inside upper jaw. Head 32% to 38%, snout length 5.4% to 7.2%, eye 10.5% to 13%, chin barbel 22.5% to 30.6%, and body depth 36% of SL. Preoperculum extending obliquely posteroventrally, with upper portions membranous and lower portions and angles weakly serrated. Posterior margin of operculum rounded and with small, triangular, membranous spines. Gill rakers slender, short, and numbering 6 to 8 on epibranch, 1 in corner, and 9 to 12 on lower limb. Dorsal fin with five slender spines and 27 to 30 rays. Pectoral fin with 1 spinelike ray and 14 rays. Pelvic fin with 1 spinelike ray and 6 rays. Anal fin with four slender spines and 14 to 16 rays. Lateral line scales numbering 33 to 35. Vertebrae numbering 29 or 30.
Bluish gray, with snout light grayish, barbels white basally, breast and belly white, and dorsal and caudal fins black tipped.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from New Jersey to French Guiana, including the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Marine. benthopelagic. depth range 50-600 m.
Biology
Crustaceans and fishes
198 mm SL
Found on soft bottoms (Ref. 5217).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tmax>4).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Woods and Sonoda 1973
Uyeno et al. 1983
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Kotlyar, A.N. (1993) A new species of the genus Polymixia (Polymixiidae, Beryciformes) from the Kyushu-Palau submarine ridge and notes on the other members of the genus. J. Ichthyol. 33(3):30-49.
Pauly, D. and V. Christensen (1993) Stratified models of large marine ecosystems: a general approach, and an application to the South China Sea. p. 148-174. In K. Sherman, L.M. Alexander and B.D. Gold (eds.) Stress, Mitigation and Sustainability of Large Marine Ecosystems. AAAS Press, Washington, DC. 376 p.
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.
Cohen, D.M., A.W. Ebeling, T. Iwamoto, S.B. McDowell, N.B. Marshall, D.E. Rosen, P. Sonoda, W.H. Weed III and L.P. Woods (1973) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part six. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Haimovici, M. and G. Velasco (2000) Length-weight relationships of marine fishes from southern Brazil. Naga, ICLARM Q. 23(1):19-23.
Muto, E.Y., M.H.C. da Silva, G.R. Vera, S.S.M. Leite, D.G. Navarro and C.L.D.B. Rossi-Wongtschowski (2005) Alimentaçao e relações tróficas de peixes demersais da plataforma continental externa e talude superior da Região Sudeste-Sul do Brasil. São Paulo: Intituto Oceanográfico USP.
García-Mederos, A.M., V.M. Tuset, J.I. Santana and J.A. González (2010) Reproduction, growth and feeding habits of stout beardfish Polymixia nobilis (Polymixiidae) off the Canary Islands (NE Atlantic). J. Appl. Ichthyol. 26:872-880.
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