Author: Bloch, 1788
Notacanthus chemnitzii Bloch, 1788
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Notacanthus chemnitzii Bloch, 1788 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body elongate, deep and compressed. Greatest body depth equal to or greater than head length, 25-41% gnathoproctal length. Snout abrupt, rounded in lateral view; mouth inferior. Palatine and dentary teeth in a double row. Premaxillary teeth 19-37 on each side, compressed and adjoining to form a serrated cutting edge. Eye about half snout length. Inter-orbital space about twice eye diameter. Dorsal fin with 8-12 isolated spines; anal fin with 20- 21 spines plus 110 or more soft rays; ventral fin with fulcral spine plus II-IV + 6-9; pectoral finrays 10-17. Pyloric caeca 4-8. Colour: tan grey or bluish when small; dark brown when large. Size: to about 120 cm (gnathoproctal length to 44 cm).
Habitat: benthopelagic between 125 and 1,000 m (three records between 1,700 and 2,500 m). Typically in shallower depths only at higher latitudes. Behaviour: catch data suggest a solitary habit. Food: primarily sea-anemones. Reproduction: disparity in size between mature males and mature females suggests protandry.
Distribution: probably circumglobal at temperate and boreal latitudes.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Tucker and Jones, 1951: 77 (eggs) | Wheeler, 1969: 231 (breeding season) | Smith, 1970: 1-9, fig.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.