Lampris Retzius, 1799
Diagnosis: body deep, compressed and oval- shaped. Mouth small, protractile, toothless; lower jaw slightly protruding. Dorsal fin long-based, with 51-55 finrays, the first finrays as a falcate lobe; anal fin long-based, low, with 38-41 finrays and without anterior lobe; pectoral and pelvic fins long and sickle-shaped; pectoral fins placed high on sides, their bases horizontal; pelvic fins posterior to pectoral fin origin; caudal fin moderately forked. Scales minute, cycloid, deciduous; lateral line conspicuous, strongly arched over pectoral fin base. Colour: back blue shading to green, belly silvery, opaque whitish spots over body; fins deep red. Size: to 1.85 m SL.
Habitat: oceanic, epi- to mesopelagic to about 400 m; apparently solitary; migration not known. Food: midwater fishes and invertebrates, mainly squids. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: eastern North Atlantic, North Sea and Mediterranean. Elsewhere, cosmopolitan in temperate and tropical seas.
Species 1.
Species of this genus in the program:
Lampris guttatus