Crested oarfish

Crested oarfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Lampriformes
Family: Lophotidae
Genus: Lophotus
Species:
L. lacepede
Binomial name
Lophotus lacepede
Giorna, 1809

The crested oarfish (Lophotus lacepede) is a species of crestfish in the family Lophotidae. It is an oceanodromous fish ranging from waters 0–92 meters deep, but may get stranded in shallow waters.[2][3][4][5]

Distribution and habitat

The crested oarfish lives in warm seas near areas such as the Western Atlantic, Western Indian Ocean, Eastern Atlantic, and the Eastern Pacific within the oceanic and mesopelagic zone.[2]

Description and ecology

The crested oarfish has maximum length of 200 centimeters, but are often are only found at 100 centimeters in length.[2] It has an ink sack near the cloaca, and discharges ink out of it when it feels alarmed. Its prey consists of squids and fishes such as anchovies. It is oviparous, and lays planktonic eggs.[6]

Conservation

The crested oarfish are likely found in marine protected areas, and has no known major threats towards it. No specific conservation measures have been made, and IUCN Red List has classified the fish as a 'least concern' species.[6]

A crested oarfish at the Dubrovnik Natural History Museum

Synonymised names

Placed by the WoRMS.[7]

  • Leptopus peregrinus Rafinesque, 1814
  • Lophotes cristatus Johnson, 1863 (misspelling)
  • Lophotus cepedianus Cloquet, 1823
  • Lophotus cristatus Johnson, 1863
  • Lophotus lacepedei Giorna, 1809 (misspelling)

References

  1. ^ Knudsen, S. (2015). "Lophotus lacepede". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T190207A47460929. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190207A47460929.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Lophotus lacepede summary page". FishBase. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  3. ^ "Taxonomy Browser". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. U.S.: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  4. ^ Ahnelt, Harald; Dulčić, Jakov (2007). "How many specimens of the crested oarfish, Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809 (Pisces: Lophotidae), were caught in the Adriatic Sea?". Acta Adriatica. 48 (1): 39–43.
  5. ^ Economidis, Panos S.; Karidas, Theofanis; Minos, George (2015). "Range extension for crested oarfish Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809 in the waters of the northern Aegean Sea, Greece". Acta Adriatica. 56 (2): 283–289.
  6. ^ a b "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  7. ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Lophotus lacepede Giorna, 1809". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2019-04-13.