Author: Ege, 1933
Macroparalepis affinis Ege, 1933
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Macroparalepis affinis Ege, 1933 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body slender, its depth 10-15 times in SL. Head more than 5 times in SL (but as little as 4 1/3 times in adolescents); snout pointed, about half head length; gillrakers reduced in adults. Dorsal fin short, set well back on body, with 11-13 finrays; pectoral finrays 10-11; pelvic fins slightly before dorsal fin origin, with 9 finrays; anal fin far back on body, with 24-28 finrays. Anus behind pelvic fin tips. Body naked except for lateral line scales. Vertebrae 88-102. Colour: black, young light with dark dorsal band. Size: to 51.7 cm.
Habitat: meso- to bathypelagic. Food: carnivorous. Reproduction: throughout year in subtropical and tropical waters.
Distribution: antitropical pattern; absent from Mediterranean. Elsewhere, southern Atlantic and Pacific (from stomachs of Alepisaurus only).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Ege, 1957: 51-54 | Rofen, 1966: 396 400.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.