Micromesistius Gill, 1864
Lower jaw slightly projecting beyond upper one. No barbel on chin. Sensory canals with large pores on head. Coronal fossa on frontals closed in front of commissure between supra-orbital canals. First anal fin long, its base more than preanal distance and its origin in front of or just behind first dorsal fin origin. Dorsal fins widely spaced, interspace between second and third fins longer than base length of first dorsal fin. Lateral line continuous over whole body.
Habitat: mesopelagic, over depths of 160-3,000 m in midwater, 30-400 m from the surface, also near the bottom at 180-400 m; immature live in shallow waters, occasionally inshore. Behaviour: in shoals, less dense in winter, during daytime in deeper water, rising at night. Seasonal and spawning migrations not exactly known. Food: chiefly small crustaceans, euphausiids, amphipods, rarely fishes. Reproduction: from February in the south to May in the north, at 180-360 m, over edge of continental shelf, in water layers at 10-30 m from the bottom.
Distribution: North Atlantic from western Barents Sea, Spitzbergen, Iceland and Greenland, Skagerrak, Kattegat to Morocco, western Mediterranean, also western North Atlantic.
Species 2; in Clofnam area 1.
Species of this genus in the program:
Micromesistius poutassou