Scopelarchus analis
No common name
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GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Aulopiformes
Scopelarchidae (Pearleyes)
Scopelarchus
Scopelarchus analis
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
Moderately elongate and moderately slender, with pectoral fins longer than pelvic fins. Snout is slightly less than to slightly longer than eye diameter. Body depth is 14.2% to 22.8% and head length is 20.4% to 26.2% of SL. Premaxilla has 23 to 133 teeth. Lower jaw has 15 to 33 teeth in lateral row and 6 to 13 larger teeth in medial row. Palatine has 10 to 17 teeth, and tongue has 9 to 15 teeth. Pectoral fin inserts below midflank and has 18 to 22 rays. Dorsal fin originates anterior to pelvic fin and has 7 to 9 rays. Anal fin rays number 21 to 26. Lateral line scales number 45 to 50. Vertebrae number 44 to 49.
Dermal pigment forming stripes above and below lateral line. Dorsal fin is pigmented at base and along anterior fin rays, and pectoral fin is pigmented on base and often on rays and membrane. Peritoneum is black. Larvae have single anterior peritoneal section, two posterior paired sections, and two dermal pigment stripes above and below lateral line.
Distribution
Southeastern United States, the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas, from near the surface to 800 m. Adults are generally taken below 300 m. Larvae are most abundant in the upper 100 m.
Biology
126 mm SL
Oceanic and mesopelagic (Ref. 6601, 58302). Adults have usually been taken in hauls to depths in excess of 500 m although they have also been captured at night in several hauls between 275 to 0 m. Larvae have been captured in hauls restricted to the upper 100 m and have been captured year-round throughout its range (Ref. 10755). Oviparous, with planktonic larvae (Ref. 35929). Synchronous hermaphrodites (Ref. 35929). Adults prey on other midwater fishes (Ref. 6691).
Reproductive mode: true hermaphroditism; fertilization: external; nonguarders. Oviparous (Ref. 35929).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-05-19.
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Johnson 1974a
Johnson 1982
Johnson 1984a
Johnson 1986a
Johnson, R.K. (1986) Scopelarchidae. p. 265-267. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Johnson, R.K. (1990) Scopelarchidae. p. 393-397. 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.
Watson, W. and E.M. Sandknop (1996) Scopelarchidae: pearleyes. p. 332-343. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Bogutskaya, N.G. (2007) Preliminary assignment of coordinates to type localities in the Catalog of Fishes. Unpublished dbf file.
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