Common Name
Dumeril's Lanternfish
Year Described
Bleeker, 1856
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 14
Anal Fin: 15
Pelvic Fin: 8
Pectoral Fin: 12
Gill Rakers: 20-26
Lateral Line: 36-38
Body Photophores
PVO: 2 (first at base of pectoral fin; two PVO in straight line with first PO)
PO: 5 (first well separated from rest; fourth almost directly above third)
VO: 5 (first, fourth, and fifth in straight line along belly; second and third in ascending line from first)
SAO: 3 (first two in straight line with fifth VO; third well above second on lateral line)
AOa: 6-8 (almost a straight line with last slightly askew dorsally)
AOp: 4-7 (almost a straight line, first behind last ray of anal fin)
Prc: 4 (curving line with the fourth separated by a larger gap and situated near lateral line)
PLO: 1 (high up on body near lateral line, slightly anterior to vertical from second PVO)
VLO: 1 (halfway between pelvic fin base and lateral line)
Pol: 1 (on lateral line; halfway between last AOa and first AOp)
A luminous scale adjacent to PLO is 3-4 times its size.
Head Photophores
Dn: present on the antero-dorsal part of orbit behind nostril; females with Dn reduced. Males with enlarged Dn that becomes larger than the nasal organs.
Vn: present on the antero-ventral part of the orbit; smaller than body photophores and often obscured by dark tissue.
Op: 2 (first smaller than body photophore behind jaw, second above it the same size as a body photophore)
Color
Body dark overall but skin pale when scales are rubbed off. Dark tissue around photophores near eyes.
Size
Maximum size to 80mm. Mature adults from 52mm.
Habitat
Continental: absent from the central gyre of the Atlantic basin. Vertical migrator: found from 225-750m during the day, and toward the surface at night.
Range Map
Range
The margins of the Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Individuals carried north with the Gulf Stream to the latitude of Newfoundland. Also south to northeastern Brazil and in the southwestern Atlantic from SE Brazil to Argentina.
References
Hartel, K.E. and J.E. Craddock. 2003. Myctophiformes. pp. 942-951. In: FAO Species Identification Guide to Fishes of the Western Atlantic. (ed. Carpenter, K.), pp. 1308–1369. UN FAO Publishers, Rome.
Nafpaktitis, B.G. 1968. Taxonomy and distribution of the lanternfishes, genera Lobianchia and Diaphus, in the North Atlantic. Dana Report No. 73: 1-131, Pls. 1-2.
Nafpaktitis, B.G. 1977. Family Myctophidae. In: Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Sears Foundation for Marine Research. Part 7, No. 1: 13-258.