Teleostei (teleosts) >
Stomiiformes (Lightfishes and dragonfishes) >
Stomiidae (Barbeled dragonfishes) > Astronesthinae
Etymology: Astronesthes: Greek, astra = ray + Greek, esthes, -es = suit, something used to wrap (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 120 - 600 m (Ref. 27684). Deep-water; 35°N - 26°S
Eastern Atlantic: Morocco south to Namibia. Western Atlantic: USA to the Caribbean Sea including the Gulf of Mexico; from French Guiana to Brazil.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 8.2 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4465); 7.0 cm SL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 17 - 20; Anal soft rays: 14 - 16. Body moderately elongate and slender. Chin barbel is less than 1 mm long and tapers to a point. Maxillary teeth comblike, closely spaced. Teeth on vomer well developed. Serial photophores not broken in small groups, relatively large. Body silvery (Ref. 37039).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.
Fairly common in deep oceanic waters, usually living deeper than 500 m during the day. Smaller individuals migrate to the near-surface or even surface waters at night. Feeds on midwater fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 2802).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Gibbs, R.H. Jr., 1990. Astronesthidae. p. 300-307. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. (Ref. 4465)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 10.8 - 20.6, mean 14.8 °C (based on 126 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00417 (0.00171 - 0.01014), b=3.05 (2.84 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.7 ±0.57 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
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