Trachipterus arcticus
Dealfish
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Lampridiformes
Trachipteridae (Ribbonfishes)
Trachipterus
Trachipterus arcticus (Dealfish)
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
Elongate and oval shaped, ventral margin of body straight, greatest depth at one-quarter to one-third of length. Head short, dorsal profile convex. Palatine bones lack teeth. Pectoral fin has 9 to 11 rays. Dorsal fin consists of 5 or 6 elongate rays followed by 144 to 184 shorter rays. Pelvic fin has 5 or 6 rays in young but may be absent in adults. Caudal fin is fan shaped and has 8 rays in upper lobe and 5 or 6 rays in short lower lobe. Lateral line runs above ventral margin of tail.
Silvery, with one to five dark spots along body. Dorsal fin is red. Spots are absent on large specimens.
Distribution
New York to south Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Mesopelagic depths in warm temperate seas
Biology
Squids and small fishes
2.5 m SL, but specimens are rare longer than 1 m SL
Probably solitary although occasional aggregations have been reported, either for feeding or breeding purposes. Feeds on small fishes and squids (Ref. 6392). Sexually mature at a length of 200cm and an age of 14 years (Ref. 35388). Eggs, larvae, and young are pelagic (Ref. 6392).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-10-11. Resilience: Very low (tm=14; Fec = 500,000).
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
Palmer 1961
Palmer 1986c
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Boschung 1992
Palmer, G. (1986) Trachipteridae. p. 729-732. 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. 2.
Muus, B.J. and J.G. Nielsen (1999) Sea fish. Scandinavian Fishing Year Book, Hedehusene, Denmark. 340 p.
Comments On Trachipterus arcticus