Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 11 - 13. Body deepest ahead of dorsal fin. Head depressed and bony, mouth large, teeth conical, recurved and mostly depressible (Ref. 39983). Preserved specimens, dark ventrally (Ref. 11228).

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Aulopiformes

Family: Bathysauridae

Genus: Bathysaurus

Species: Bathysaurus ferox Günther, 1878

Climate Zone

Location

• Eastern Atlantic: northern British Isles to Guinea; also off South Africa. Reported from Iceland (Ref. 12462). Western Atlantic: Davis Strait to Rio Grande Rise, Brazil. Southwest Pacific: New Zealand and Australia (Ref. 7300). Southeast Pacific: Nazca and Sala-y-Gomez (Ref. 50546). Macristium chavesi (pelagic larvae) known from Dominican Republic, Bay of Biscay, Azores, and in the Indian Ocean.

Biology

Usually occurs below the 4°C isotherm. Rests stationary on the bottom with head slightly elevated in typical lizardfish fashion. Feeds primarily on fish and decapods (Ref. 4964). Synchronously hermaphroditic. Minimum depth reported from Ref. 5755.

Habitat

bathydemersal

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Harmless