Common Name
Pale Pike Smelt
Year Described
Rafinesque, 1810
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 13
Anal Fin: 21-23
Pectoral Fin: 14-15
Pelvic Fin: 9
Lateral Line: 51-77
Vertebrae: 59-60
Lateral line sections with 4-7 pores above and below midline of scale.
Color
Body lightly pigmented with most pigment concentrated on head, dorsum, and on caudal peduncle. Peritoneum black, with 7-8 sections in adults and 9 in post-larva.
Size
Maximum size in adults to 40cm SL. Post-larva only around 50mm SL.
Habitat
Mesopelagic to bathypelagic from 200-2000m.
Range
Scattered records from off Newfoundland to S. Brazil. W. Atlantic records are of post-larval specimens.
References
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 v. 10 (no. 2): 159-248.
Rofen, R.R. In: Anderson, W.W., R.H. Gibbs, F.H. Berry, W.A. Gosline, J.E. Bohlke, N.B. Marshall, R.L. Bolin, G.W. Mead, J.W. Gehringer, R.R. Rofen, and N.J. Wilimovsky. 1966. Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Part 5. Iniomi and Lyomeri. Memoir No. 1. Sears Foundation for Marine Research; Yale University, New Haven, CT. 647 pp., 220 plates.