Author: Johnson, 1865
Nealotus tripes Johnson, 1865
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Nealotus tripes Johnson, 1865 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body oblong, compressed. Lower jaw projecting beyond the upper; tips of jaws without cartilaginous processes. 3 fixed and 0-3 movable fang-like teeth in upper jaw anteriorly, 1 fang-like tooth each side of lower jaw anteriorly, no teeth on vomer. Gillraker at angle of first arch T-shaped. 2 free spines before anal fin, the first enlarged. 2 dorsal and anal finlets. D XX(XXI) + I + 15-18 + 2; A II + I + 16-18 + 2; P 13 (14); V 1. Most of body naked but large deciduous scales may be present at some places. Lateral line single, mediolateral, without sharp bend anteriorly. Colour: brownish. Size: to 25 cm SL.
Habitat: oceanic, epimesopelagic down to 550 m. Migrating to surface at night (nyctoepipelagic). Food: small fishes, crustaceans. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: known from off Madeira. Elsewhere, worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Strasburg, 1964: 176, fig. 3-6.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.