Bathylagus tenuis Kobyliansky 1986



Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2023, Bathylagus tenuis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 03 May 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5705

Bathylagus tenuis Kobyliansky 1986

More Info


Distribution

Cascade Plateau south of Tasmania; also  Macquarie Island and Heard & McDonald Island the Southern Ocean. Elsewhere the species occurs in the Southern, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
The species undertakes daily migration to feed in shallower waters at night.

Features

Dorsal fin 9-11; Anal fin 20-24; Pectoral fin 8-10; Pelvic fin 8-9; Gill rakers 7-9 + 16-21 = 24-30; Pyloric caecae 4-6; Vertebrae 46-48. 
Body relatively short, compressed, depth decreasing gradually towards tail. Head depth at preopercle 5.5-6.4; body depth at pectoral-fin base 4.6-5.7, at anal-fin origin 7.0-8.6; head length 4.1-4.8 in SL. Eye diameter 2.1-2.5 in HL. Maxilla reaching to below anterior margin of pupil. Gill opening restricted to lower quarter of head. Predorsal distance 2.0-2.2 and anal-fin base length 4.4-6.0 in SL. Caudal peduncle length 13.4-19.2 in SL, depth 0.8-1.2 in length. Pelvic fins inserted closer to anal-fin origin than to pectoral-fin base.

Colour

In preservative - brown, with small dark spots covering the head and body. Snout and opercle dark, cheek pale. Abdomen dark brown to black. Fins dusky and spotted. Scale pockets pale purple with dark rear edge. Mouth cavity and gill chamber dark; gill arch and gill rakers dusky. Peritoneum black and intestine pale.

Feeding

Feeds mostly on copepods, appendicularians, euphausiids, pteropods, chaetognaths and cephalopods.

Etymology

The specific name is from the Latin tenuis (= thin, narrow), in reference to the elongate body.

Species Citation

Bathylagus tenuis Kobyliansky 1986, Trudy Instituta Okeanologii Imeni P.P. Shirshova 121. Type locality: South Atlantic, 40°17'S, 50°01'W, depth 1230-0m.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2023

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Bathylagus tenuis Kobyliansky 1986

References


Gon, O. 1990. Bathylagidae. pp. 107-110 in Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown, South Africa : J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 462 pp. See ref at BHL

Gon, O. & Stewart, A.L. 2015. 56 Family Bathylagidae. pp. 337-345 in Roberts, C.D., Stewart, A.L. & Struthers, C.D. The Fishes of New Zealand. Wellington : Te Papa Press Vol. 2 pp. 1-576.

Kobyliansky, S.G. 1986. Materials for a revision of the family Bathylagidae (Teleostei, Salmoniformes). Trudy Instituta Okeanologii Imeni P.P. Shirshova 121: 6-50. [In Russian, English summary]
Olivar, M.P., Moser, H.G., Hartel, K.E. &  Lombarte, A. 1993. Larvae of three species of Bathylagus of the Southern Atlantic. Copeia 1993(2): 503-513 https://doi.org/10.2307/1447151

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37098013

Depth:550-1600 m

Habitat:Mesopelagic, bathypelagic

Max Size:16 cm SL

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map