Common Name
Digitate Cusk-eel
Year Described
Goode & Bean, 1883
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 100-115
Anal Fin: 85-98
Pectoral Fin: 22-33 (lower lobe 5-11 filamentous)
Caudal Fin: 6-7
Pelvic Fin: 2
Gill Rakers: 7-15 developed rakers on first arch
Vertebrae: 13-16 precaudal
Body elongate, compressed and tapering posteriorly. Tail long and slender. Head large and rounded with greatest body depth around pectoral fin base. Snout blunt. No spine behind rear of eye. Mouth inferior and large, extending past orbit. Teeth in jaws, vomer and palatines. One median basibranchial tooth patch plus one paired patch. Eye large. Preopercle with 3 strong spines on margin. Opercular spine large, straight and strong (shorter than snout + eye diameter). Dorsal and anal fins continuous with tail. Tail elongated. Pectoral fins with two distinct sections: one with long filamentous rays reaching beyond anal fin and the upper lobe with shorter semi-filamentous rays (does not reach anal fin). Pelvic fins filamentous. Body and head covered in small scales.
Color
Body pale gray to dark brown. Head, gill cover, inside of throat, and gut black. Lobe of skin above pectoral fin dusky. Pectoral fin with black rays. Vertical fins dark.
Size
Maximum size to 350mn SL.
Habitat
Bathydemersal from 700-1785m.
Range
Nova Scotia to Suriname, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
References
Grey, M. 1958. Descriptions of abyssal benthic fishes from the Gulf of Mexico. Fieldiana Zoology v. 39 (no. 16): 149-183.
Nielsen, J. G., D. M. Cohen, D. F. Markle and C. R. Robins. 1999. FAO species catalogue. Volume 18. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Fisheries Synopsis No. 125: i-xi + 1-178.