Author: (Günther, 1877)
Histiobranchus bathybius (Günther, 1877)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Histiobranchus bathybius (Günther, 1877) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body moderately elongate, massive, compressed posteriorly; trunk high and long, anus slightly before midpoint of body. Head conical, slightly depressed in posterior orbital region. Anterior nostril subterminal, subtubular; posterior nostril a collared pore in advance of eye. Mouth large, the gape extending well behind level of posterior margin of eye. Teeth sharply conical and recurved, in three rows anteriorly on both jaws, the largest teeth on premaxillary- ethmoid in an oval patch well separated from 2 or 3 rows of vomerine teeth. Gill slits almost confluent anteriorly. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins well developed, confluent; dorsal origin over pectoral fins, which are short. Lateral line with 47-52 preanal pores, 7 prepectoral pores. Vertebrae: total 126-140; abdominal about 76. Scales elongate, oval, all over the body except a large area of head, in a 'basket-work' pattern. Colour: black to brown. Size: to 137 cm.
Distribution: throughout area. Elsewhere, eastern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.
Habitat: benthopelagic on continental slope and abyssal plain down to 4,855 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: no data.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Lea, 1913: 15, fig. 10, pl. 2 (no. 5) | Fish, 1927: 308 | Bruun, 1937: 11, fig. 3, 10-14, 17, tab. 6-7 | Bertin, 1939: 388 | Castle, 1964: 40; 1969: 22.
Otoliths (sagitta). Frost, 1926: 103.