Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 15; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10. Black in color (Ref. 5320).

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Aulopiformes

Family: Ipnopidae

Genus: Bathypterois

Species: Bathypterois phenax Parr, 1928

Climate Zone

Location

• Eastern Atlantic: Off Sierra Leone and Liberia and off South Africa (as Bathypterois ater). Western Atlantic: at bathyal depths between latitude 40°N-5°N including Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, and off southern Brazil.

Biology

Common on mid and lower continental slope. Rests on the bottom with the use of elongated, stiffened outer pelvic and lower caudal fin rays (tripod). Sensory pectoral fins are thrown forward in front of its head, facing the current. Feeds on benthopelagic plankton. Synchronously hermaphroditic (Ref. 6688). Spawning is seasonal with peak during fall in the Bahamas (Ref. 3590).

Habitat

bathydemersal

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Harmless