Teleostei (teleosts) >
Lophiiformes (Anglerfishes) >
Oneirodidae (Dreamers)
Etymology: Chaenophryne: Greek, 'chaeno' or 'chaino' = to gape + Greek, 'phryne' = toad (alluring to a "gaping toad") (Ref. 86949).
More on author: Regan.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 500 - 1000 m (Ref. 5951). Deep-water; 46°N - 60°S, 180°W - 180°E
Tropical to temperate parts of all oceans. Northeast Pacific: south of southern California to Oregon, USA (Ref. 265).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 24.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 75756); 20.7 cm TL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 6 - 8; Anal soft rays: 5 - 6. Distinguishing characteristics of metamorphosed female: esca with a pair of elongate internally pigmented and bilaterally placed anterior appendages, less than one-tenth to greater than length of escal bulb; smaller ratio between number of upper and lower jaw teeth, 0.70-0.94; total number of teeth in upper jaw teeth 28-40, lower jaw 34-57 teeth; vomerine teeth 4-8; length of illicium 22.4-40.3% SL; escal bulb width 5.3-11.4% SL; has fewer dorsal and anal fin rays than C.ramifera, and greater number of pectoral fin rays than all other species of the genus (Ref. 86949).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.
Bathypelagic (Ref. 58426). Also mesopelagic. Males dwarfed, non-parasitic (Ref. 10524). Feeds on fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans (Ref. 58426).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Bertelsen, E., 1990. Oneirodidae. p. 498-507. 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. 10524)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 1.9 - 8.5, mean 6.6 °C (based on 226 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5312 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01995 (0.00906 - 0.04395), b=3.01 (2.83 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.1 ±0.55 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (20 of 100).
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