Sternoptyx pseudobscura
No common name
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Collection Details
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Sternoptychidae (Marine Hatchetfishes)
Sternoptyx
Sternoptyx pseudobscura
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
Short and deep bodied, with a small, almost vertical mouth and laterally directed, nontubular eyes. Jaws have moderate-sized, recurved teeth. Gill rakers on first arch number seven to nine. Branchiostegal rays number 6, with 3 on epihyal. Preoperculum has single, ventrally directed spine. Dorsal blade is long, is about same length as dorsal fin, has serrated dorsal margin, and is derived from one supraneural. Abdominal keel is well developed. Postabdominal spines are well developed. Pectoral fin has 9 to 11, dorsal fin has 9 to 12, and anal fin has 13 to 15 rays. Anterior anal radial is long and bears external spine. Dorsal adipose fin has long base. ORB is unpigmented and ventral to eye. BR and OP each number 3. IP number 5, PV number 10, and VAV number 3. OA are in two groups of 1 and 3 photophores. AC are in two distinct groups of 3 and 4 photophores. First AC is located near trunk midline. Vertebrae number 28 to 31.
Color is dark dorsally and silvery on flank.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs in the Straits of Florida, the northern Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and off Brazil.
Northern Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to subtropical seas between 800 and 1,500 m
Biology
Food consists of copepods, ostracods, euphausiids, amphipods, and decapod crustaceans.
Maximum known size is 55 mm SL.
Oceanic (Ref. 4739). Meso- and bathypelagic (Ref. 58302). Does not exhibits vertical migration (Ref. 4462). Feeds on copepods, ostracods, euphausiids, amphipods, decapods (Ref. 4739). Photophores develop in adults over 16-18 mm SL (Ref. 4739). Minimum depth from Ref. 004054.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
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.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Schultz 1964
Baird 1971, 1986
Badcock and Baird 1980
Murdy et al. 1983
Badcock 1984b
Howell and Krueger 1987
Weitzman, S.H. (1986) Sternoptychidae. p. 253-259. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Quéro, J.-C., J.C. Njock and M.M. de la Hoz (1990) Sternoptychidae. p. 275-282. 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.
Badcock, J. (1984) Sternoptychidae. p. 302-317. 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. volume 1. UNESCO, Paris.
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.
Hopkins, T.L. and R.C. Baird (1985) Feeding ecology of four hatchetfishes (Sternoptychidae) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Bull. Mar. Sci. 36(2):260-277.
Yang, J., Z. Huang, S. Chen and Q. Li (1996) The Deep-Water Pelagic Fishes in the Area form Nansha Islands To the Northeast part of South China Sea. Science Publication Company, Beijing. 190 pp.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
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