Common Name
Kanazawa's Cusk-eel
Year Described
Grey, 1958
Identification
Dorsal Fin: 105-108
Anal Fin: 82-89
Pectoral Fin: 20-26 on upper lobe, 5-8 on lower lobe
Caudal Fin: 6-7
Pelvic Fin: 2
Gill Rakers: 6 rudiments + 11 well developed raker on lower limb of first arch.
Vertebrae: 13-16 precaudal
Body elongate, compressed and tapering posteriorly. Tail long and slender. Head large and rounded with greatest body depth around pectoral fin base. Snout blunt. A small spine above the eye posteriorly. Mouth inferior and large, extending past orbit. Teeth in jaws, vomer and palatines. One basibranchial tooth patch but no paired patch. Eye large. Preopercle with 3-4 strong spines on margin. Opercular spine very large, curved upwards and strong (longer than snout + eye diameter). Dorsal and anal fins continuous with tail. Bases of these fins fleshy and scale covered to 3/4 of ray length. Tail elongated. Pectoral fins with two distinct sections: one with filamentous rays extending past anal fin origin and another with shorter rays than barely reaches anus. Pelvic fins filamentous. Body and head covered in small scales.
Color
Body brown to reddish-brown. Head, gill cover, inside of throat, and gut black. Lobe of skin above pectoral fin black. Pectoral fin black on upper lobe, pale on lower. Vertical fins grayish with paler margins.
Size
Maximum size to 254mm SL.
Habitat
Bathydemersal from 2104-2194m.
Range
The Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.
References
Grey, M. 1958. Descriptions of abyssal benthic fishes from the Gulf of Mexico. Fieldiana Zoology v. 39 (no. 16): 149-183.
Nielsen, J. G., D. M. Cohen, D. F. Markle and C. R. Robins. 1999. FAO species catalogue. Volume 18. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Fisheries Synopsis No. 125: i-xi + 1-178.