Hammerjaw fish
| Hammerjaw fish | ||||||||||||
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Hammer jawfish ( Omosudis lowii ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Omosudis | ||||||||||||
| Günther , 1887 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Omosudis lowii | ||||||||||||
| Günther, 1887 |
The hammerjaw ( Omosudis lowii ( Gr . "Omo" = shoulder; Lat . "Sudis" = a fish (pike, salmon))) lives in the Atlantic and in the Indian Ocean usually in depths up to 4000 meters (between 100 and 1000 m). The fish undertake vertical migrations, stay at great depths during the day and migrate to the surface at dusk.
features
Hammerjawfish grow to a length of 20 to 23 centimeters, are brownish on the back and shimmering silvery on the sides. The black peritoneum is visible. They have a relatively large head and a deeply split mouth with large fangs. Two particularly large ones sit in the lower jaw. They have no scales, no swim bladder , no sensory pores and no luminous organs . The fish have 39 to 41 vertebrae.
- Fin formula : dorsal 9–12, anal 14–16, pectoral 14–16.
Systematics
Omosudis lowii is usually the only species in the monotypic family Omosudidae ( Regan , 1911 ). The American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson assigned the species as a sister group of Alepisaurus to the Alepisauridae .
literature
- Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World , John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
Web links
- Hammerjaw fish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Family Omosudidae - Hammerjaws on Fishbase.org (English)