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Teleostei (teleosts) > Argentiniformes (Marine smelts) > Microstomatidae (Pencil smelts)
Etymology: Microstoma: Greek, mikros = small + Greek,stoma = mouth (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Risso.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathypelagic. Deep-water; 55°N - 49°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Probably worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. Eastern Atlantic: southern Ireland, scattered records in western Mediterranean, also Madeira Islands. Western Atlantic: Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 27768). Western Pacific: Australia (Ref. 7300) and New Zealand (Ref. 5755).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 21.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3978)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 12; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 7 - 9; Vertebrae: 44 - 45. Body silvery, darker near tail (Ref. 3978). Swim bladder faintly colored. Adults mostly silver (Ref. 37473).

Mesopelagic species (Ref. 3978, 58302). Generally solitary. Probably feeds on zooplankton. Spawns throughout the year in the Mediterranean, more in winter.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Cohen, D.M., 1984. Argentinidae (including Microstomatidae). p. 386-391. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Volume 1. Unesco, Paris. (Ref. 4773)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 10 July 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology

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Anatomy
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Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 8.8 - 19.6, mean 13.4 °C (based on 608 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00389 (0.00180 - 0.00842), b=3.12 (2.94 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.45 se; based on food items.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (11 of 100).

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Microstoma microstoma (Risso, 1810)