Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Anal spines: 0. Mouth greatly enlarged by a backward extension of jaws, gape comprising half or more of preanal length; buccal cavity greatly distensible. Tail attenuated and ending in an expanded, luminous caudal organ. Caudal fin absent; scales absent; lateral line without pores, instead with groups of elevated tubules.

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Saccopharyngiformes

Family: Eurypharyngidae

Genus: Eurypharynx

Species: Eurypharynx pelecanoides Vaillant, 1882

Climate Zone

Location

• Circumglobal: In tropical to temperate waters. Eastern Pacific: ranges from northern California to Peru (Ref. 35600).

Biology

Meso- to abyssopelagic (Ref. 58302) and bathypelagic (Ref. 58426). Adults feed mainly on crustaceans, but also take fishes, cephalopods, and other invertebrates (Ref. 2850, 11041). Oviparous, planktonic eggs hatch into planktonic leptocephalus larvae (Ref. 6719, 35600). Degenerative changes in males and females suggest semelparity (Ref. 35600).

Habitat

bathypelagic

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threat to Humans

Harmless