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Malacocephalus laevis (Lowe, 1843)

Softhead grenadier
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Malacocephalus laevis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Malacocephalus laevis (Softhead grenadier)
Malacocephalus laevis
Picture by Cambraia Duarte, P.M.N. (c)ImagDOP

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Macrouridae (Grenadiers or rattails)
Etymology: Malacocephalus: Greek, malakos = soft + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lowe.

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

Marine; bathydemersal; non-migratory; depth range 200 - 1000 m (Ref. 1371), usually 300 - 750 m (Ref. 3587). Deep-water; 62°N - 43°S, 97°W - 124°E (Ref. 1371)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Atlantic, Indian and Pacific: Western Atlantic: Strait of Florida to Brazil, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Eastern Atlantic: Iceland (Ref. 12462) and Faroes to South Africa. Indian Ocean: Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, off Maldives and off East African coast. Western Pacific: Indonesian area and Australia. Eastern Central Pacific (Ref. 9315). Malacocephalus hawaiiensis, Malacocephalus luzonensis, and Malacocephalus nipponensis are closely related to Malacocephalus laevis and may eventually prove to represent populations of this species, if a comprehensive comparison of material from the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans is done (Ref. 1371).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2800); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 229; Anal spines: 0. Head uniformly scaled, including the mandibles and the ventral aspects of the snout and suborbital. Snout blunt, its tip with a conical tubercle. The trunk is short, the body tapers abruptly from behind the first dorsal fin. The caudal fin is absent.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found on continental slopes (Ref. 1371). Utilized mainly for fishmeal and oil (Ref. 1371). In the past, fishers in the North Atlantic were reported to have used the luminescent excretion from the ventral light organ to enhance baits used for cod fishing (Ref. 1371).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Iwamoto, Tomio | Collaborators

Cohen, D.M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto and N. Scialabba, 1990. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 10. Gadiform fishes of the world (Order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(10). Rome: FAO. 442 p. (Ref. 1371)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 July 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 6.1 - 13.9, mean 9.5 °C (based on 824 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00129 (0.00075 - 0.00222), b=3.14 (2.99 - 3.29), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.56 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 19.5 [11.4, 49.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.413 [0.190, 0.856] mg/100g; Protein = 16.4 [14.7, 18.1] %; Omega3 = 0.211 [0.102, 0.439] g/100g; Selenium = 21.6 [8.4, 53.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 17.4 [3.5, 83.1] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.395 [0.249, 0.636] mg/100g (wet weight);