Common Name
Darkheaded Tripodfish
Year Described
Roule, 1916
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 12-13
Anal Fin: 10-12
Pelvic Fin: 8 (first thickened and elongate)
Pectoral Fin: 2 tiny upper rays; then 7 elongate rays (first not thickened); then 1 short ray; then 5-6 moderate lower rays
Branchiostegal Rays: 12-13
Gill Rakers: 11, 1 on corner, then 27-28 on lower limb (first arch)
Lateral Line: 51-56
Vertebrae: 50-52
Body fairly elongate with a tiny eye and a large mouth. Teeth recurved and relatively large. Pectoral fins complex, with several elongate rays extending to about the anal fin origin. Ventral fins with first two rays thickened and elongate (less than SL). Anal fin origin above middle of dorsal fin. Lowermost two caudal fin principle rays are elongate (less than SL). There is no sub-caudal notch. Adipose fin present. Body scales small and simple.
Color
Body white with three dark bands: one before dorsal origin, one after dorsal fin, and one on the caudal peduncle. The head is black. The caudal fin is pale with a dark base.
Size
Maximum size to 222mm SL.
Habitat
Continental shelf and slope from 476-1,477m over soft bottoms.
Range
New England to SE Brazil, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
References
Franco, M.A., A.C. Braga, G.W. Nunan, & P.A. Costa. 2009. Fishes of the family Ipnopidae (Teleostei: Aulopiformes) collected on the Brazilian continental slope between 11 degrees and 23 degrees S. J. Fish Biol. 75(4): 797-815.
McEachran, J.D. & J.D. Fechhelm. 1998. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. i-viii + 1-1112.