Common Name
Bluntsnout Smoothhead
Year Described
Gill, 1884
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 27-31
Anal Fin: 26-30
Pectoral Fin: 7-8
Pelvic Fin: 6
Gill Rakers: 23-27 (total in first arch)
Pyloric Caeca: 4-7
Vertebrae: 16-19 precaudal, 30-32 caudal
Body moderately elongate and deep-bodied, with a large head. Eye diameter greater than snout length. Snout blunt with a steep forehead. Premaxilla and dentary with tiny teeth. Rear margin of jaw extends below middle of orbit. A single supramaxilla above maxilla. Dorsal fin origin directly over anal fin origin (fins the same size). Pectoral and pelvic fins small. Scales absent. Photophores are present as scattered nodules on body.
Color
Uniformly blackish.
Size
Maximum size to 17cm SL.
Habitat
Mesopelagic over continental slopes from 100-1,000m.
Range
Off the eastern U.S., Bermuda, and the Gulf of Mexico. Also eastern to southeastern Brazil.
References
Costa, P.A.S., Braga, A.C., Melo, M.R.S., Nunan, G.W.A., Martins, A.S., & Olavo, G. 2007. Assembleias de teleósteos demersais no talude da costa central brasileira. p. 87–107. In: Costa, P.A.S.; Olavo, G.; Martins, A.S. (eds.). Biodiversidade da fauna marinha profunda na costa central brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Nacional (Série Livros 24).
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.