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Teleostei (teleosts) > Beryciformes (Sawbellies) > Melamphaidae (Bigscale fishes or ridgeheads)
Etymology: Melamphaes: Greek, melan, -anos = black + Greek, amphi = both side (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Günther.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 300 - 2516 m (Ref. 4241). Deep-water; 60°N - 47°S

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Antitropical. South Atlantic: between 27°S and 46°S (off southwest tip of Africa); southern Indian Ocean, western south Pacific off New Zealand, eastern south Pacific (Ref. 51657). The holotype was caught in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean east of the Kara Dag Seamount. Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951). North Atlantic (between 30°N and 60°N) specimens are probable variants of M. falsidicus (Ref. 87970).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 87971)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17 - 18; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 8. Head with sharp angle. Gill rakers are widely compressed, closely packed and with spaces (Ref. 37108).

Rare species. May be a species complex (J.A. Moore, pers. Comm.). Trawled below 300 m off South Africa and New Zealand (Ref. 4241). Maximum depth from Ref. 58018.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Gon, O., 1990. Melamphaidae. p. 218-221. In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, South Africa. (Ref. 5189)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 09 October 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Trophic ecology
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 2.3 - 5.9, mean 4.4 °C (based on 57 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01072 (0.00442 - 0.02595), b=3.10 (2.89 - 3.31), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.6 ±0.2 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tm=2-4).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Melamphaes microps (Günther, 1878)