Xenodermichthys copei
No common name
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Alepocephalidae (Slickheads)
Xenodermichthys
Xenodermichthys copei
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, relatively deep bodied, and compressed, with a short, blunt snout and nodular light organs on head and body. Snout length is less than eye length. Head length is 20% to 25% of SL. Maxilla extends to about center of eye. One supramaxilla is present on dorsal margin of maxilla. Premaxilla and dentaries have minute teeth. First gill arch has 6 to 8 gill rakers on epibranch, 1 in corner, and 16 to 18 on lower limb. Pectoral fin is not fanlike and has 7 or 8 rays. Origin of dorsal fin is over origin of anal fin, and fin bases are about equal length. Dorsal fin has 27 to 31 rays, and anal fin has 26 to 30 rays. Pelvic fin has 6 rays. Body is naked. Trunk vertebrae number 16 to 19, and caudal vertebrae number 30 to 32. Pyloric caecae number four to seven.
Color is black.
Distribution
In the western North Atlantic it occurs off Virginia and Bermuda and in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Dry Tortugas and Pensacola, Florida.
Habitat Associations
Mesopelagic, between 100 and 1,000 m, generally near continental or insular slopes.
Biology
Food consists of copepods, amphipods, euphausiids, decapod zoea, ostracods, and small cephalopods.
Maximum known length is 170 mm SL.
Spawning occurs from September to November either near or on the bottom. Ova range up to 2.7 mm in diameter, and fecundity is low; a single 15.6-cm female had 151 ova.
Usually found near continental slopes (Ref. 4736). Bathypelagic (Ref. 58426). Feeds primarily on crustaceans (euphausiids, copepods, amphipods and decapod zoea), also ostracods and small cephalopods (Ref. 4736).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2014-05-14. Resilience: Medium (Assuming tmax>3).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
It is distinguished from the other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: of no interest.
References
Rass 1971
Markle and Quero 1984
Markle 1986
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Markle, D.F. (1986) Alepocephalidae. p. 218-223. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Markle, D.F. and Y.I. Sazanov (1990) Alepocephalidae. p. 246-264. 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.
Markle, D.F. and J.-C. Quéro (1984) Alepocephalidae (including Bathylaconidae, Bathyprionidae). p. 228-253. 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. 1.
Bernardes, R.Á., J.L. de Figueiredo, A.R. Rodrigues, L.G. Fischer, C.M. Vooren, M. Haimovici and C.L.D.B. Rossi-Wongtschowski (2005) Peixes de zona econômica exclusiva da região sudeste-sul do Brasil: Levantamento com armadilhas, pargueiras e rede de arrasto de fundo. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo. 295 p.
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