Slender argentine
| Slender argentine | |
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| Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | Microstoma Cuvier, 1816
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| Species: | M. microstoma
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| Binomial name | |
| Microstoma microstoma (Risso, 1810)
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The slender argentine, Microstoma microstoma, is a species of smelt, the only member of the genus Microstoma, found circumglobally in tropical and subtropical seas. Its length is between 10 and 21 cm.
The slender argentine is a thin elongate mesopelagic species with very large forward-set eyes and mouth. There is a single row of small teeth in each jaw, and a row of enlarged scales along the lateral line. Their diet consists of small planktonic animals.
They are silver with darker patches on the operculum and caudal peduncle.
References
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2006). "Microstoma microstoma" in FishBase. May 2006 version.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8