Radiicephalus elongatus

Radiicephalus elongatus

Radiicephalus elongatus is a bony fish from the order of gloss Fishy ( Lampriformes ). He lives mesopelagisch in the eastern Atlantic from the Azores and Morocco to South Africa, as well as in the eastern Pacific in the area of the California current.

Features

The fish have an elongated, laterally strongly compressed body. The body height decreases from head to long extended tail stem from more and more. The jaws are toothless, the upper jaw is very far vorstreckbar. The dorsal fin begins above the eyes and is very long. The first of a total of 150 to 160 fin rays are elongated. The tiny anal fin sits just before the caudal peduncle and has six to seven fin rays, the pectoral fins nine to ten. The caudal fin is in two parts and consists of a tiny aided by four to five fin rays fin on the caudal peduncle, and one formed by six to seven soft rays filament can reach the length of the body, is in caught, but mostly damaged and broken. Adult fish have no pelvic fins, the tiny juveniles has nine soft rays. Scales are not available except for a row of pores BANDED along the lateral line organ.

Radiicephalus elongatus is 60 to 75 inches long. The body of the fish is silvery, black, the base of the dorsal fin, back, chest and tail are red.

Way of life

Since Radiicephalus elongatus is known only from a few specimens caught with nets, his way of life is largely unknown. The fish live meso- or bathypelagic. They feed on lantern fish ( Myctophidae ) and possibly of krill. The larvae of oviparous fish are planktonic. With danger Radiicephalus encounters elongatus, like many cephalopods, a dark brown, ink -like liquid from.