Valenciennellus tripunctulatus
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Stomiiformes
Sternoptychidae (Marine Hatchetfishes)
Valenciennellus
Valenciennellus tripunctulatus
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
Elongated and moderately slender body; moderate-sized, nearly vertical mouth and dorsally directed, moderately tubular eyes; teeth in premaxilla and lower jaw minute and uniserial, those in maxilla larger and of unequal size; gill rakers on first arch number 14 to 16; branchiostegal rays number 10, with 3 on epihyal; preoperculum lacks spines; dorsal blade, abdominal keel, and post-abdominal spines absent; pectoral fin has 16 or 17 rays, dorsal fin has 7 or 8 rays, pelvic fin has 6 or 7 rays, and anal fin has 24 or 25 rays; dorsal adipose fin has relatively short base; ORB anterior to eye; BR number 6, OP number 3; IP subdivided into two groups of 3 and 4 photophores; VP number 15 to 18; VAV number 5; OA number 5; AC in three to six groups of generally 2 to 4 photophores; vertebrae number 32 or 33
Head and abdomen blackish brown; back and tail translucent; series of distinct melanophores runs along dorsolateral aspect of flank
Distribution
Bermuda, eastern coast of Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and the Virgin Islands
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to temperate seas between 100 and 700 m; most common between 351 and 550 m
Biology
Copepods and ostracods
35 mm SL
Spawning may take place year-round; fecundity ranges from 100 to 360 eggs; life span appears to be about one year
Oceanic and mesopelagic, with marked stratification of size with depth (Ref. 4739). Generally non-migrant or only short diel vertical migrations (Ref. 4739). A selective daytime feeder on copepods (mainly Pleuromamma and ostracods, Conchoecia) (Ref. 4739). Also Ref. 58302.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-07-15. Resilience: Medium (tmax=1; tm<1; Fec=100-360 (annual<1000)).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
References
Grey 1964
Rass 1971
Murdy et al. 1983
Badcock 1984b
Weitzman 1986b
Howell and Krueger 1987
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.
Watson, W. (1996) Sternoptychidae: hatchetfishes. p. 268-283. 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.
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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