Description

Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 17; Anal soft rays: 13; Vertebrae: 50 - 51. Moderately elongate and slender. Slightly depressed anteriorly and compressed posteriorly. Color generally white, with peritoneum, branchial and buccal regions dark. Small specimens have faint vertical bars (Ref. 37039).

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Aulopiformes

Family: Bathysauridae

Genus: Bathysaurus

Species: Bathysaurus mollis Günther, 1878

Climate Zone

Location

• Circumglobal between latitude 50°N-20°S except tropical eastern Pacific. Eastern Atlantic: northern Ireland; Morocco to Gabon.

Biology

Benthic (Ref. 58302). Found on the continental rise and the abyss, commonly below 2,000 m, in water colder than 4°C. Larvae are probably pelagic in near-surface midwaters. Solitary, lurking bottom feeder. Probably piscivore (Ref. 4964).

Habitat

bathydemersal

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Harmless