Mermaid Lanternfish, Lampanyctus lepidolychnus Becker 1967

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Bray, D.J. 2026, Lampanyctus lepidolychnus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 02 Sep 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/3331

Mermaid Lanternfish, Lampanyctus lepidolychnus Becker 1967

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Distribution	Off Newcastle, New South Wales, to south of Tasmania. Elsewhere the species has a southern circumglobal distribution (except central and east Pacific).
Features	Dorsal fin 14-16; Anal fin 18-20; AOa 8-10, with AOa1 and/or AOa2 abruptly depressed, line passing through AOa1 to AOa2 below AOa3; Gill rakers 3-4 + 1 + 8-11, total 13-16. Luminous patch at adipose-fin origin longer than adipose-fin base. Pectoral fin long, reaching to between VO2 and VO3 photophores, well short of anal-fin origin; vertical distance between margin of orbit and upper lip, taken on vertical through middle of eye, about equal to length of pectoral-fin base; caudal-peduncle depth equal to or greater than head depth, taken on vertical through middle of orbit; secondary photophores over entire body
Species Citation	Lampanyctus lepidolychnus Becker 1967, Trudy Instituta Okeanologii. Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Moskva 84: 112, fig. 9. Type locality: South Atlantic [42°17´S, 39°W].
Author	Bray, D.J. 2026
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Mermaid Lanternfish, Lampanyctus lepidolychnus Becker 1967

References

Becker, V.E. 1967. The lanternfishes (Myctophidae) from the Petr Lebedev Atlantic Expeditions 1961–1964. Trudy Instituta Okeanologii. Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Moskva 84: 84-124 figs 1-13 [in Russian]

McGinnis, R.F. 1982. Biology of the Antarctic Seas XII. Biogeography of lanternfishes (Myctophidae) south of 30°S. American Geophysical Union. Antarctic Research Series 35: 1-110 figs 1-56

Olivar, M.P. & Beckley, L.E. 1997. Larval development of Lampanyctus species (Pisces: Myctophidae) from the SW Indian Ocean, and species groups based on larval characters. Bulletin of Marine Science 60(1): 47-65.

Olivar, M.P., Moser, H.G & Beckley, L.E. 1999. Lanternfish larvae from the Agulhas current (SW Indian Ocean). Scientia Marina 63(2): 101-120.

Robertson, D.A. & Clements, K.D. 2015. 89 Family Myctophidae pp. 613-680, in Roberts, C.D., Stewart, A.L. & Struthers, C.D. (ed.) The Fishes of New Zealand . Wellington : Te Papa Press Vol. 3 pp. 577-1152.

Sutton, T.T., Hulley, P.A., Wienerroither, R., Zaera-Perez, D. & Paxton, J.R. 2020. Identification guide to the mesopelagic fishes of the Central and South East Atlantic Ocean. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome: i-xvi + 1-327.

Williams, A. 2019. Lampanyctus lepidolychnus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T15599074A15603805. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T15599074A15603805.en. Accessed on 16 August 2026.

Young, J.W., Lamb, T.D. & Bradford, R.W. 1996. Distribution and community structure of midwater fishes in relation to the subtropical convergence off eastern Tasmania, Australia. Marine Biology 126(4): 571-584.