Myctophum asperum

Updated on Nov 19, 2023

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Kingdom Animalia Class Actinopterygii Family Myctophidae Scientific name Myctophum asperum		Phylum Chordata Order Myctophiformes Genus Myctophum Rank Species

Similar Myctophum, Myctophum nitidulum, Warming's lantern fish, Ceratoscopelus, Lampadena luminosa

Myctophum asperum, common name the prickly lanternfish, is a species of deep sea fish in the family Myctophidae, the "lanternfish".

Description

This species has large eyes, and grows to a maximum length of approximately 8.5 cm.

Myctophum asperum is found in the following regions:

Western Atlantic Ocean from 20° north to Brazil, and also occurs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Eastern Atlantic Ocean, occurring from Mauritania to South Africa in the Agulhas water pockets.

Northwest Atlantic near Canada.

Indo-Pacific in both the following currents:

North and south equatorial currents

Equatorial countercurrents

East Australian and Agulhas currents

Eastern Central Pacific.

South China Sea and East China Sea

Larvae have also been found in the Taiwan Strait.

This species is found at depths of between 425 and 750 metres during the day. At night it can descend to depths of 125 metres to feed on plankton.

Dasyscopelus asper (Richardson, 1845)

Dasyscopelus naufragus Waite, 1904

Scopelus asper (Richardson, 1845)

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