Author: Giglioli, 1893
Chalinura mediterranea Giglioli, 1893
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Coryphaenoides mediterraneus (Giglioli, 1893) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body fairly stout, tapering evenly to tail; head about one-fifth body length. Snout broad, almost vertical in front; upper profile of head humped behind eye to dorsal fin; mouth subterminal and large, premaxilla 37-45% head length; chin barbel longer than eye, 27-37% head length. First dorsal fin with 10-12 finrays, second dorsal fin beginning a short distance behind vertical from anal fin origin; pectoral fin with 17-20 finrays; pelvic fin with 12, rarely 13 (Mediterranean) or 13-14 (North-east Atlantic) finrays, its insertion just before pectoral fin base (the latter conspicuously before first dorsal fin origin), outer finray elongated. Pyloric caeca 10, short and simple. Colour: generally brown, the gill cover and branchiostegal and gular membranes blackish, mouth and gill cavity dusky to dark brown. Size: to at least 73 cm TL.
Habitat: benthopelagic at 1,200-3,000 m (Atlantic) or 2,370- 2,900 (Mediterranean). Food: small benthic invertebrates. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: Atlantic, from the Azores to west of Scotland, also Mediterranean (in western part and off western coast of Sardinia). Elsewhere, Gulf of Mexico.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.