Poromitra crassiceps

Common Name

Crested Ridgehead

Year Described

Günther, 1878

Identification

Dorsal Fin: III, 12-13
Anal Fin: I, 9-10
Pectoral Fin: 13-14
Pelvic Fin: I, 7
Caudal Fin: 9-10 branched, 3 procurrent rays
Lateral Scale Rows: 29-31
Gill Rakers: 28-30
Vertebrae: 27-29

Head with heavy bony ridging and pitting. A conspicuous anterior spine in front of eye and bony crest present on top of head (characteristic of Poromitra). Rear margin of mouth extends beyond orbit. Eye moderate in size. Preopercle with spination continuous along entire posterior and ventral edge. Anterior preopercular margin with ridges at an acute angle. Opercle with serrated upper margin. Anal fin origin under dorsal ray 6 or 7. Pectoral fin extends to rear dorsal fin base. Pelvic fin origin posterior to pectoral fin base. Three scales on cheek. Pyloric caeca number 6.

Color

Uniformly dark brown to black

Size

Maximum size to 156mm SL

Habitat

Adults mesopelagic from 750-2730m, with juveniles being caught in shallower water to the surface at night.

Range

Captured from Greenland to the eastern U.S., to the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.

References

Kotlyar, A. N. 2008. Revision of the genus Poromitra (Melamphaidae): Part 1. Species of group P. crassiceps. Journal of Ichthyology v. 48 (no. 7): 479-492.

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.

Moore, J. A., K. E. Hartel, J. E. Craddock, and J. K. Galbraith. 2003. An annotated list of deepwater fishes from off the New England region, with new area records. Northeastern Naturalist 10(2): 159-248.

Other Notes

The three other members of the Poromotra crassiceps complex are largely allopatric in the Indian Ocean, western Pacific, and the eastern Pacific (Kotlyar, 2008).