Common Name
Scaleline Cusk-eel
Year Described
Cohen & Rohr, 1993
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 131-140
Anal Fin: 104-117
Pectoral Fin: 18-19
Caudal Fin: 8-9
Pelvic Fin: 0
Gill Rakers: 15-16 (developed)
Vertebrae: 11 (precaudal), 71-74 (total)
Branchiostegal Rays: 8
Body elongate and heavy, tapering posteriorly. Body depth 10-11.7 in SL. Head thick and rounded but becoming compressed beyond the pectoral fin. Mouth subterminal, large and strongly oblique. Posterior maxillary sheathed. Basibranchial tooth patch present. Opercular spine strong in adults (thinner in juveniles). Preopercular and opercular rear margin with several well developed spines (smooth or fimbriate in other species of the genus). Dorsal and anal fin continuous with tail. Pectoral fins short and fanlike. Pelvic fins absent. Lateral line a ridged channel with distinct neuromasts/pores dorsal to ridge.
Larvae with spectacular projections of the gut (can be much longer than body), often covered in fleshy flaps. Pelvic and dorsal fins with elongated rays.
Color
Body pale to uniformly brown. Lips, branchial area, eye and fins dark.
Size
A large species: at least to 193cm.
Habitat
Adults trawled between the surface and 700m but adults likely on the deep end. Juveniles pelagic in shallower water.
Range
In our region known from off French Guiana and Suriname and seamounts off New England.
References
Cohen, D. M., & B. A. Rohr. 1993. Description of a giant circumglobal Lamprogrammus species (Pisces: Ophidiidae). Copeia, 470-475.
Fukui, A., & H. Kuroda. 2007. Larvae of Lamprogrammus shcherbachevi (Ophidiiformes: Ophidiidae) from the western North Pacific Ocean. Ichthyological Research, 54, 74-80.
Other Notes
Much more elongate than the other two Lamprogrammus from the region.