| Remarks |
A rather small mesobathypelagic fish that grow up to 21.5 cm SL. Body slender; mouth very large, slit reaching significantly beyond posterior end of eye. Skull bones densely striated with furrows and pits. Jaws are not arched, fixed on symphyses. Denticulated surfaces of praemaxillaria are significantly broadened, forming part of roof of mouth cavity. Teeth on jaws are multiserial, numerous, brushlike, greatly varying in length; teeth longest in the innermost row on praemaxillare and dentale; palatine teeth in one row; none on vomer and pterygoid bones; supramaxillare present. Branchiostegal rays 7. Gill rakers reduced to spinules; slit behind fourth gill arch present. Pseudobranch is well developed. Dorsal fins 2, completely divided, but with two-three free-fifth between them. D1 = VII -VllI (IX); D2 = I - II, 18-25; A I - II, 18-25; P 10-15; vertebrae 33-37. Caudal skeleton with 3 epuralia, 5 autogenous hypuralia and parhypurale; pterygiophores hypurale very small. Skin naked, movable, without spinules and as a rule, luminiscent organs present (photophores or traces of luminsicent tissue) are arranged in series (except P. aphos). Larval development is without metamorphosis (Ref. 56658). |