Description

Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 5 - 6; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 4. Metamorphosed females of Bufoceratias wedli differ from those of Bufoceratias shaoi in having a much smaller esca and a longer illicium (83-225% standard length versus 26-40% standard length), and from those of Bufoceratias thele in having distinct, anterior, posterior, and lateral escal appendages (Ref. 51070).

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Lophiiformes

Family: Diceratiidae

Genus: Bufoceratias

Species: Bufoceratias wedli (Pietschmann, 1926)

Climate Zone

Location

• Western Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to coastal waters off Suriname. Eastern Atlantic: off Portugal to coastal waters of Namibia, as far south as about 24°S. The single specimen recorded from the Okinawa Trough, East China Sea (Ref. 51075) is a misidentification of Bufoceratias thele.

Biology

Mesopelagic and bathypelagic near or on continental shelf (Ref. 6939). Males and larvae unknown (Ref. 51070), probably dwarfed, non-parasitic (Ref. 6939). Minimum depth from Ref. 6613.

Habitat

bathypelagic

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Harmless