Author: (Lea, 1913)
Pseudophichthys splendens (Lea, 1913)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Pseudophichthys splendens (Lea, 1913) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: snake-like body, scaleless, well compressed, caudal part tapering progressively to a point. Head more or less cylindrical, its dorsal outline almost straight, inter-orbital space narrow, convex. Anterior nostril opening in a pore with a slight rim; posterior nostril an oval pore near anterior margin of eye. Mouth rictus slightly anterior to level of anterior edge of eye; snout high, slightly prominent; labial flange absent in upper jaw; large mucus pores on margin of upper lip and at tip of snout and on chin. In both jaws, teeth long and sharp, in large bands; short and blunt teeth set in a broad and long vomerine oval plate, confluent with premaxillary teeth. Gill openings lateral, crescentiform. Dorsal and anal fins confluent with caudal fin, their finrays segmented; dorsal fin origin posterior to pectoral fin tip. Lateral line: 39 preanal pores, 7 prepectoral; no supra-temporal pore. Vertebrae: total 134-137; abdominal 45-50. Colour: sandy grey, ochre, darker dorsally; vertical fins progressively darker posteriorly; lips, mouth cavity, gill cavity, gill openings and peritoneum purple black. Size: to 50 cm.
Habitat: benthic on slope on muddy bottoms at 1,000 m and over. Food: no data. Reproduction: very few data; larva described as Leptocephalus splendens by Lea, 1913.
Distribution: off Morocco, the Azores and probably Madeira. Elsewhere, western North Atlantic.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.