| Family: |
Bathylagidae (Deep-sea smelts) |
| Max. size: |
16 cm SL (male/unsexed) |
| Environment: |
bathypelagic; marine; depth range 25 - 1000 m |
| Distribution: |
Eastern Atlantic: Spain to Western Sahara. Western Atlantic: Bermuda. Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951). Southwest Pacific: New Zealand (Ref. 5755). |
| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-14; Anal soft rays: 11-12; Vertebrae: 44-44. Pale, straw-colored ground color. Opercle and snout dusky. Dark pigment distributed on margins of scale pockets (Ref. 37473). Slender body, smoothly narrowed toward the end of caudal peduncle. Maximum depth at the level of the pectoral fin base for 39-69 mm specimens and immediately before the dorsal fin origin for larger ones. Pectoral fins short, not reaching origin of dorsal fin. Operculum without radial grooves. No gill rakers at the inner surface of epibranchial of first gill arch. Swim bladder absent (Ref. 33679). |
| Biology: |
Usually caught in small aggregations, at 600-900 m in the daytime and 25-500 m at night (Ref. 6345). Feeds on plankton (Ref. 6345). |
| IUCN Red List Status: |
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 10 July 2014 Ref. (130435)
|
| Threat to humans: |
harmless |
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