Malthopsis gnoma

Malthopsis gnoma
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Lophiiformes
Family:	Ogcocephalidae
Genus:	Malthopsis
Species:	M. gnoma
Binomial name
Malthopsis gnoma Bradbury, 1998

Malthopsis gnoma is a marine fish, which is found at depth 90–475 m in the western central Atlantic, at the north coast of Cuba, near Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and at the Caribbean coast of Central America.

Physical Description

It reaches a length of 6.1 cm (2.4 in). The head of the fish is pressed down, but it is positioned above the disk. The shape of the disk is triangular, and the fish has a long tail. Its mouth is small, and there is a small cavity on the snout that serves as a lure. The lure consists of a single central bulb without lobes, and it has a small, distinctly upward-pointing, cone-shaped rostrum that hangs over it. The fish does not have any cover over its pupils. There is a buckler located at the angle of the operculum, which has a large, thick spine pointing backward at the end. The gill rakers are in the form of tiny pads of teeth attached to small stalks. The gill openings are small and located behind the upper base of the pectoral fin. The dorsal and anal fins are small and situated at the rear of the body. The base of the pectoral fins resembles arms and is well separated from the body. The size of the pelvic fins is not reduced. The fish has bony bucklers and spines. The underside of the body is completely covered with scales, while the underside of the tail is densely covered with small prickles and has two rows of large cone-shaped scales.

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