Author: Johnson, 1863
Chiasmodon niger Johnson, 1863
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Chiasmodon niger Johnson, 1864 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: teeth slender but more strongly developed than in C. bolangeri. Expanded part of premaxillary with 3 canine teeth, first fixed and strongly curved, second of moderate size, depressible, directed posteriorly and lying flat against roof of mouth when not erected, third very long, depressible, crossing that of opposite side when laid back. 3 anterior teeth on each dentary also enlarged, first fixed, third very long. Head 27-31% of SL; snout 22-25% of head; inter-orbital 18-20% of head. A small but stout spine at lower angle of preopercle. Dorsal finrays XI-XIII + 26-29; anal finrays I + 26-29. Colour: blackish-brown. Size: probably exceeding 25 cm SL.
Habitat: bathypelagic, most captures below 750 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: post- larvae of C. niger-C. bolangeri complex taken in upper 500 m in Ocean Acre area (32° N, 64° W) from April-August (unpublished data).
Distribution: one specimen from off East Greenland; other Clofnam records in southernmost sector. Elsewhere, in tropical subtropical parts of all oceans.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). Kotthaus, 1972a, measurements only.