Point head lantern fish
| Point head lantern fish | ||||||||||||
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Point head lanternfish ( Diaphus metopoclampus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Diaphus metopoclampus | ||||||||||||
| ( Cocco , 1829) |
The point head lantern fish ( Diaphus metopoclampus ) is a small deep-sea fish that occurs almost worldwide in tropical and temperate seas. It is only missing in the Indian Ocean east of 70 ° geographic longitude and in the eastern Pacific. It is also found on the Atlantic coast of Europe and in the Mediterranean .
features
The point head lantern fish is 6.5 to 7.7 cm long and is sexually mature with a length of 4.8 cm. It has a thick head with large eyes and deep clefts in its mouth and a short, stocky body that is slightly flattened on the sides and tapering backwards like a spindle. Characteristic features of the species are two spotlight-like, large, almost rectangular luminous organs , which are located on the front of the head between the eyes and touch each other median. Runners of these luminous organs extend along the lower edge of the eyes. Further luminous organs can be found on the flanks below the sideline , on the abdomen and on the tail fin stalk.
- Fin formula : dorsal (14) 15-16, anal (14) 15-16, pectoral 10-11, ventral 8.
- Scale formula : SL 37.
- Gill rays : 8 (9, rarely 7) + 1 + 14-15, a total of 23-24 (25, rarely 22).
- Luminous organs along the ventral post- anal region (AO) 6 + 6 (5, rarely 7), a total of 12 (11, rarely 13).
Way of life
The point head lantern fish lives oceanic and mesopelagic during the day at depths of 375 to 850 meters (up to 1085 meters in the eastern Ionian Sea ). He undertakes vertical hikes in search of food and ascends to a depth of 90 meters at night.
literature
- Andreas Vilcinskas , 1000 fish. Naumann & Göbel, ISBN 3-62510-570-5
Web links
- Point head lantern fish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Diaphus metopoclampus at the Marine Species Identification Portal
- Diaphus metopoclampus (PDF; 309 kB) at CIESM