Centrophryne spinulosa

Common Name

Prickly Seadevil

Year Described

Regan & Trewavas, 1932

Identification

Dorsal Fin: 6-7
Anal Fin: 5-6
Pectoral Fin: 15-16
Caudal Fin: 2 simple + 4 bifurcate + 3 simple

Adult females are elongate yet robust anglerfish with a thickened body anterior to the pectoral fin and more slender rearward. Front of head triangular. Sphenotic spines absent. Teeth a mix of large and small depressible teeth. Small teeth present on gill plates. Other head and opercular spines minute or absent. Mouth terminates about under eye. Illicium 18.7-26% of SL. Anterior end of pterygiophore exposed. Esca club-shaped with a fan-like anterior appendage and a small nub of a posterior appendage. Pectoral fin origin well forward of dorsal fin origin. Skin with dense dermal spicules.

Males and larvae tiny, with noticeable hyoid barbels. Males with large olfactory organs and small eyes. Skin naked.

Color

Entire body of adult female reddish-brown to black. Male semi-translucent brown.

Size

Largest female measured 247mm SL. Adult males measure only <12.8mm SL.

Habitat

Adults captured between 590-2325m in midwater. Larvae are found closer to the surface.

Range

Known from the Gulf of Mexico, south of Jamaica, north of Venezuela, and several specimens from the central equatorial Atlantic.

References

Pietsch, T.W. 2009. Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deepsea. University of California Press. 557pp.