Polymixia nobilis
No common name
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Polymixiformes
Polymixiidae (Beardfishes)
Polymixia
Polymixia nobilis
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, with a thick, slightly tapering caudal peduncle and a relatively long dorsal fin. Adipose snout is rounded. Lower jaw is short and fits inside upper jaw. Head is 34% to 36.7%, snout is 6.7% to 8.6%, eye is 9.9% to 13.3%, chin barbel is 23% to 33%, and body depth is 36% to 40% of SL. Preoperculum extends obliquely posteroventrally, with angles serrated. Posterior margin of operculum is rounded. Gill rakers are slender, short, and number three on epibranch, one in corner, and six to nine on lower limb of first arch. Dorsal fin has four or five slender spines and 34 to 37 rays. Pectoral fin has 1 spinous ray and 14 to 15 rays. Pelvic fin has 1 spinous ray and 6 rays. Anal fin has three or four spines and 15 or 16 rays. Lateral line scales number 34 to 37. Vertebrae number 19.
Color is dark brownish gray, with operculum dark and dorsal, anal, and caudal rays dusky. Tips of anterior dorsal fin rays and tips of caudal fin rays are dark to black.
Distribution
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical Atlantic Ocean, at 100 to 770 m depth
Biology
Maximum known size is 350 mm SL
Found on semi-hard and soft bottoms on the continental shelf and slope. Marketed fresh and frozen.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-15. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tm=2-4).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Woods and Sonoda 1973
Heemstra 1986g
Hureau 1986
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.
Heemstra, P.C. (1986) Polymixiidae. p. 432. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Hureau, J.-C. (1990) Polymixiidae. p. 625. 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. 2.
Clarke, M.R. and N. Merrett (1972) The significance of squid, whale and other remains from the stomachs of bottom-living deep-sea fish. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 52:599-603.
Comments On Polymixia nobilis