Author: Krefft, 1980
Holtbyrnia anomala Krefft, 1980
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Holtbyrnia anomala Krefft, 1980 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body compressed, head large, more than one-third body length. Snout pointed, premaxillary tusks pointing straight forward. Gillrakers 25-31(7-10 on upper limb). No pit behind shoulder girdle. Pyloric caeca 5-11, producing 10-21 terminal diverticulae. Dorsal fin far back on body, with 18-22 finrays; pectoral fins small, with 13-16 finrays; pelvic fins a little behind midpoint of body, with 8-10 finrays; anal fin origin behind that of dorsal fin, with 15-19 finrays. Light organs rudimentary, except for that on lower pectoral finrays (PO), remainder represented in adults by white or colourless spots devoid of scales (no trace of light organs in juveniles nor in occasional adults). Lateral line scales 42-52, enlarged, modified. Colour: uniform dark, except for pale 'light organs'. Size: to about 25 cm.
Habitat: mesopelagic, but mostly bathypelagic to benthopelagic, taken in trawls at 700-2,700 m. Food: no data. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: from off south-western tip of Ireland northward to the west of Iceland (65° 26' N). Elsewhere, tropical and subtropical Atlantic and off Namibia.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.