Author: (Gmelin, 1789)
Trachipterus trachypterus (Gmelin, 1789)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Trachipterus trachypterus (Gmelin, 1789) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body elongate, compressed, greatest depth immediately behind head; body axis curved upward in the caudal region. Head short, mouth small, protrusible. Dorsal fin long, with 145-185 finrays, the first few rays elongate, often damaged in adults; no anal fin; pectoral fins small, inserted horizontally; pelvic fins elongate in young, small in adults; caudal fin fan-like. Scales absent; lateral line straight on tail. Colour: silvery, usually with a pattern of 1-4 dark blotches over lateral line, and 1-2 along belly; dorsal fin red. Size: to 1.5 m SL.
Habitat: mesopelagic down to 500 m. Food: midwater fishes and squids. Reproduction: few data; eggs and larvae found in Mediterranean near surface on many occasions.
Distribution: Mediterranean. Elsewhere, throughout Pacific and a doubtful record off South Africa.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Emery, 1879a: 390-391, 1 pl.; 1879b: 581-588, pl. XVIII (fig. 1-6) | Ehrenbaum, 1905: 125-128, fig. 57a-e | ÊSpartà, 1933: 267, fig. 231-234, pl. 15, fig. 5-10 | Sardou, 1966: 199, 4 pl.
Otoliths (sagitta). Frost, 1927: 440.