Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; bathydemersal; depth range 50 - 1000 m (Ref. 6688). Deep-water; 5°C - 13°C; 45°N - 29°S, 180°W - 180°E
Circumglobal in temperate and tropical regions. Eastern Atlantic: Spain to at least 19°S, including the Mediterranean, Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Western Atlantic: southern New England, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to northern South America (Ref. 7251). Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 36731); common length : 20.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2683)
Dorsal
spines
(total): 0;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 10-11;
Anal
spines: 0;
Anal
soft rays: 8 - 10. Body slightly compressed. The head is small; eyes large, diameter greater than snout length. Color is yellow-fawn, with irregular oblique brown blotches on the sides. The operculum is silver-black; anus and gill cavity black; belly stippled black; caudal fin base and inner ventral fin rays black.
Found on the continental shelf and upper slope over mud and clay bottom. Catch data indicate a schooling habit. Feeds mainly on bottom-living invertebrates. Also known to feed on pelagic crustaceans like euphausiids, decapods and mysids (Ref. 27637). A hermaphroditic species. Marketed fresh and sometimes made into fishmeal (Ref. 6688). Young are pelagic, living near the surface, the adults are demersal, living between 50 and 1000 m depth (Ref. 47377).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Merrett, N.R., 1990. Chlorophthalmidae. p. 351-360. 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. 3590)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 126983)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
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