Author: (Cuvier, 1832)
Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier, 1832)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier, 1832) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body oblong, compressed. Lower jaw slightly projecting beyond the upper; tips of jaws without cartilaginous processes. 3-4 fixed and 0-3 movable fang-like teeth in upper jaw anteriorly, 1 fang-like tooth in lower jaw anteriorly. Gillraker at angle of first arch T-shaped. No free spines before anal fin. 2 dorsal and anal detached finlets. D XVII- XVIII(XIX) + I + 17-19 + 2; A II + 16-17 + 2; P 14-15; V I. Scales small. Lateral line single, dorsolateral anteriorly but sharply bending downwards under fourth to sixth dorsal fin spine and then mediolateral. Colour: body greyish to brownish, first dorsal fin darker, second dorsal, anal and caudal fins yellowish. Size: to 100 cm SL, maybe more.
Habitat: oceanic, benthopelagic on continental slope or underwater rises at about 100 to 750 m. Food: fishes, cephalopods, crustaceans. Reproduction: seasonal (August, September) near Madeira; probably throughout the year in warm waters.
Distribution: Madeira, the Azores and Bay of Biscay north of Spain. Elsewhere, probably worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas (not recorded from eastern Pacific).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. ? Günther, 1860: 349 ('Dicrotus armatus'); 1889: 7, pl. 1 (fig. C-D) | ? Roule and Angel, 1930: 92-93, pl. 5 (fig. 115-116).
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.