Gadiculus argenteus

Author: Guichenot, 1850

Gadiculus argenteus Guichenot, 1850

Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Gadiculus argenteus Guichenot, 1850 (updated 2009-06-25)

Diagnosis: in G. argenteus argenteus first dorsal finrays 8-12, second dorsal finrays 10-14, third dorsal finrays 11-16; first anal finrays 15-18, second anal finrays 12-16. Vertebrae 37-40. Gillrakers 15-19. (In G. argenteus thori: first dorsal finrays 9-13, second dorsal finrays 10-16, third dorsal finrays 15-17; first anal finrays 11-16, second anal finrays 16-17. Vertebrae 39-43. Gillrakers 16-21.) Colour: dull silvery with dark flecks on head and back. Size: to 15 cm SL, rarely more than 11 cm.

Habitat: bathypelagic, midwater in shoals over edge of continental shelf at 200-1,000 m. Food: small crustaceans and worms (?). Reproduction: January-February in the southern part of its distribution, April in north, December-January in Mediterranean.

Distribution: north-eastern Atlantic from North Cape, Skagerrak to Bay of Biscay (G. argenteus thori) and off Morocco, western Mediterranean, Adriatic (G. argenteus argenteus).

Eggs, larvae and young stages. D'Ancona, 1933c: 200, fig. 189-190 | Marinaro, 1971: 27, pl. 4, fig. 4.
Otoliths (sagitta). Sanz Echeverría, 1935: 256, pl. XXIX (fig. 19).

Subspecies

Gadiculus argenteus argenteus: inter-orbital width about 17.9% of head length.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. D'Ancona, 1933: 200, fig. 189-190 | Marinaro, 1971: 27, pl. 4, fig. 4.
Otoliths (sagitta). Sanz Echeverría, 1935: 256, pl. XXIX (fig. 19).

Gadiculus argenteus thori J. Schmidt: inter-orbital width 17.9-19.6% of head length.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Schmidt, 1905: 64, pl. III (fig. 25); 1906d: 13, pl. 1 (fig. 1-12) | Ehrenbaum, 1909: 258, fig. 93.
Otoliths (sagitta). Schmidt, 1968: 17, pl. 3 (fig. 35), pl. 16.