Description

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Head large and body tapering. Snout with prominent, bifid spine. Opercular spine long and slender extending well beyond rear margin of head. Well developed spines at lower angle of preopercle. Eye small. Anterior gill arch with 16-22 developed rakers. Precaudal vertebrae 9-10.

Common Names

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Bony-eared assfish , English , Papua New Guinea

Eeselkala , Estonian , Estonia

Hanatoge-ashiro , Japanese , Japan

大棘鼬鳚 , Mandarin Chinese , China

Cá Chồn gai , Vietnamese , Viet Nam

Taxonomic Hierarchy

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Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Ophidiiformes

Family: Ophidiidae

Genus: Acanthonus

Species: Acanthonus armatus Günther, 1878

Climate Zone

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bathypelagic

Location

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In deep waters off tropical and subtropical areas of all oceans. Especially abundant in the tropical western Atlantic (Ref. 3686). Reported from Carlsberg Ridge (6°22'N 60°12'E) and New Guinea (Ref. 33390). Known from Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, southern India, Philippines, Gulf of Panama and tropical west Africa (Ref. 44076).

Biology

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Benthopelagic at bathyal and abyssal depths (Ref. 56809). Common species (Ref. 34024). Oviparous, with oval pelagic eggs floating in a gelatinous mass (Ref. 205). Noted as having the smallest relative brain size among teleosts, and remarkably large semicircular canals (Ref. 7463).

Habitat

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bathypelagic