Common Name
Agassiz's Smoothhead
Year Described
Goode & Bean, 1883
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 15-18
Anal Fin: 16-18
Pectoral Fin: 10-12
Pelvic Fin: 6-8
Lateral Line Scales: 80-90
Gill Rakers: 23-29 (total)
Pyloric Caeca: 15-23
Body moderately elongate and slender, with a very large head. Eyes larger than snout. Teeth present on premaxilla, lower jaw, and palatine but absent on the upper jaw and vomer. Two supramaxilla above the maxilla. Rear margin of jaw ends at the middle or posterior margin of orbit. Dorsal fin origin about even with anal fin. Pectoral and pelvic fins very small. Transverse scale rows from first lateral scale to dorsal fin number >40.
Color
Uniformly black when intact, purplish to brown when scales are rubbed off.
Size
Average size 50-70cm SL. Maximum size to 79cm SL.
Habitat
Epibenthic from 600-2,400m over soft bottoms.
Range
Davis Strait to the northern Caribbean, including the Gulf of Mexico.
References
McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. 1998. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. i-viii + 1-1112.
Whitehead, P.J.P. , M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J.G. Nielsen and E. Tortonese. 1986. Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Vol. I-III. UNESCO. Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. http://species-identification.org