Familia Scombrolabracidae

Scombrolabracidae

Body moderately compressed. Eye very large. Two nostrils each side of snout. Lower edge of preopercle serrate. Mouth large; upper jaw slightly protractile; lower jaw projecting beyond tip of the upper; teeth strong, fang-like in anterior part of upper jaw. Gillrakers well developed in lower limb of the first arch. 2 dorsal fins, the first longer than the second; anal fin similar to second dorsal in shape and size, without separated spine before its origin; dorsal and anal finlets absent; pectoral fins long; pelvic fins large, with 1 spine and 5 rays; caudal fin moderate, forked. Scales cycloid, variable in shape. Lateral line single. No keels on caudal peduncle.

Habitat: oceanic, mesopelagic at 100 to 600 m; also over continental slope and underwater rises. Food: crustaceans, squids, small fishes. Reproduction: no data.

Genera 1.

Recent revisions: Gosline (1968 analomy and relationships), Grey (1966 external characteristics), Parin and Becker (1972).

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