Slender blacksmelt (Bathylagus pacificus)

Scientific name: Bathylagus pacificus Gilbert, 1890

Slender blacksmelt (Bathylagus pacificus)

The Slender blacksmelt (Bathylagus pacificus) is a marine fish of the family Bathylagidae. Native range: North Pacific, off the Pacific coast of northern Japan and the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska southward to northern Baja California, Mexico.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-13; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 15 - 25; Vertebrae: 44 - 51. Body slender and compressed. Anal fin base long and about twice the length of dorsal fin base. Eye diameter about twice snout length. Upper end of gill slit reaching above midline of side of body. No knob-like process in interorbital space. Dorsoposterior edge of operculum not curved inward. Traces of detached scales black. Color black or dark brown; bluish black on head and ventral surfaces, and on peritoneum.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Bathylagus pacificus
Family
Bathylagidae (Deep-sea smelts)
Order
Osmeriformes (Smelts)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
25.0
Depth range
0–7700 m (0–25262 ft)
Environment
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 0 - 7700 m, usually 600 - 800 m
Climate
Deep-water
Distribution
North Pacific: off the Pacific coast of northern Japan and the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska southward to northern Baja California, Mexico.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Resilience
Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.14 (very tentative estimate))

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Last updated