Author: Ascanius, 1772
Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Regalecus glesne Ascanius, 1772 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: elongate and compressed ribbon- like body; anus on the anterior third of body. Head short, its bones very thin and fragile; mouth small, vertical, protrusible. Dorsal fin extending along whole of body, first few finrays on nape elongate with fleshy membrane at tip; no anal fin; caudal fin rudimentary, except in young where it consists of some long free finrays; pectoral fins small, inserted horizontally; pelvic fins of a single, elongate ray fringed by a distally expanded membrane. Skin naked, studded with hard tubercles set in more or less longitudinal bands or ridges; lateral line running along lower sides of body and consisting of a chain of oblong plates loosely embedded in the skin. Colour: body silvery with oblique dusky bars, head bluish, fins deep red. Size: to 7 m SL.
Habitat: mesopelagic to about 1,000 m. Only taken in surface waters by accident; occasionally mutilated specimens appear floating at surface or are thrown onto shore after gales. Food: probably euphausiid crustaceans, small fishes and squids. Reproduction: very few data; relatively large eggs (2.5 mm) and larvae have been found near the surface in the Mediterranean in winter.
Distribution: Icelandic waters, North Sea, eastern North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Elsewhere, most tropical and temperate seas.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Smitt, 1893, fig. 861 Ehrenbaum, 1905: 128, fig. 58 | Sanzo, 1925: 1-7 | d'Ancona et al., 1933: 276-279, fig. | Breder and Rosen, 1966: 389 | Spartà , 1927: 1, pl. 1 | Berdar et al., 1975: 123-131, fig. 1, pl. 1-3.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.