Author: Koefoed, 1955
Scopelarchus michaelsarsi Koefoed, 1955
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Scopelarchus michaelsarsi Koefoed, 1955 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays 7-9, anal finrays 18-21, pectoral finrays 18-21, the latter large and reaching beyond anal fin origin. Scales in lateral line 40-44. Vertebrae 40-44. Colour: in alcohol, yellow-brown with small to large, brown to black melanophores. Pigment limited to distinct, subequal stripes above and below lateral line; dorsally, scale pockets edged with pigment; pectoral fins jet-black except on 5 lowermost rays. Size: 101.5 mm SL.
Habitat: oceanic, mesopelagic. Most adults taken in hauls to depth exceeding 500 m, none in hauls to depths less than 256 m; larvae taken at all times of the year throughout the range of the species, chiefly in hauls to depths less than 200 m and apparently not in hauls restricted to the upper 100 m. Food: adults presumably prey on other midwater fishes.
Distribution: species unknown from Clofnam area, but captured at four nearby Atlantic stations (27° 35-30' N, 19° 50-57' W; 26° 15-11' N, 21° 51-57' W; 31° 50-45' N, 30° 37-41' W; 28° 45-40' N, 30° 08-11' W). Elsewhere, tropical and subtropical regions of all oceans (in the Pacific, not known east of 150° W).