Fang fish

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Fang fish
Anoplogaster cornuta

Anoplogaster cornuta

Systematics
Sub-cohort : Neoteleostei
Acanthomorphata
Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
Order : Trachichthyiformes
Family : Anoplogastridae
Genre : Fang fish
Scientific name of the  family
Anoplogastridae
Gill , 1893
Scientific name of the  genus
Anoplogaster
Günther , 1859

The fang fish or leaf scaly ( Anoplogaster ) are deep sea fish from the order of the Trachichthyiformes , with a worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate seas. The family contains only two very similar species in one genus .

Appearance

Fang fish, like most deep-sea fish, are small, Anoplogaster cornuta becomes 15 centimeters long, Anoplogaster brachycera becomes only six centimeters long.

The head and mouth (see fish skull ) are very large. The eyes are relatively small. The body is strongly compressed on the sides and is dark brown to black in color. The fins are small, without hard rays. The sideline is well developed and continues on the skull in the form of mucus-filled grooves.

In adults, the largest two fangs of the lower jaw are so long that the fangefish have developed a pair of hollow pockets on either side of the brain to accommodate the teeth when the mouth is closed. These teeth are (in relation to body length) the longest of all known marine fish. The adolescents differ morphologically very clearly: unlike the adults, they have long spines on their heads, larger eyes, a functional swim bladder, long gills, much smaller teeth and are light gray in color. The differences are so great that the juvenile fish have been described as other species, Caulolepis longidens and Caulolepis subulidens .

Way of life

Fang fish live pelagically between 200 and 5,000 meters depth. You are doing a vertical hike . During the day they stay at greater depths and migrate to higher water layers at night. They live individually or in small groups.

Fang fish predatorily feed on other fish and squids, whereby they can also devour prey that is almost as big as they are. The young animals, which still have small teeth, filter zooplankton from the water with their long gills. They are themselves eaten by large pelagic fish such as tuna and marlin .

In contrast to other deep-sea fish, fangfish can be kept alive in aquariums for months.

Reproduction

Fang fish have planktonic larvae. At a length of about eight centimeters, the young fish take on the shape of the adults and descend into deeper water. Like most deep-sea fish, they are believed to grow slowly.

species

swell

Web links

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