Lance fish

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lance fish
Alepisaurus ferox

Alepisaurus ferox

Systematics
Overcohort : Clupeocephala
Cohort : Euteleosteomorpha
Sub-cohort : Neoteleostei
Order : Lizardfish (Aulopiformes)
Family : Alepisauridae
Genre : Lance fish
Scientific name
Alepisaurus
Lowe , 1833

The lance fish ( Alepisaurus ) are a species of fish with few species from the order of the lizard fish relatives (Aulopiformes).

features

Lance fish are up to 2.10 meters long. Your body is slightly flattened on the sides, slender and elongated. The head is small, the eyes, which are set on the sides, are round and medium-sized. The mouth is very large and reaches far behind the eyes. A supramaxillary is missing. The jaw teeth are usually small and stand in a row. There are both fixed and foldable teeth. There is an enlarged fang in the lower jaw. On the palatine bone there are two fangs and smaller teeth that stand in a row. The vomer and tongue are toothless. The gill rakes are reduced to tooth-like structures.

The fins are stingless, the sail-like, high dorsal fin begins immediately behind the head and extends over the small anal fin, which lies in the rear third of the body. The belly-shaped pectoral fins are long, the pelvic fins lie just in front of the middle of the body. A small adipose fin is located above the posterior section of the anal fin. The caudal fin is forked. On each side of the rear half of the body there is a keel that extends from the middle of the body to the end of the tail stalk.

The fish are scaleless. The sideline is just a series of small pores. Illuminating organs are missing. The number of vertebrae is 47 to 51. Lancefish are iridescent bluish-blackish in color, the ventral side is silvery gray, the dorsal fin metallic bluish-black.

Way of life

Lancefish live epi - and mesopelagic , according to some scientists also bathypelagic. They feed carnivorously on fish, cephalopods , salps and crustaceans . Lancefish are synchronous hermaphrodites ; H. Males and females at the same time.

species

There are two kinds.

literature

  • JR Paxton & VH Niem: Alepisauridae, Lancetfishes in Kent E. Carpenter, Volker H. Niem (Eds.): FAO Species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 3: Batoid fishes, chimaeras and Bony fishes part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1998. p. 1953.

Web links

Commons : Alepisaurus  - collection of images, videos and audio files