Author: Risso, 1820
Evermannella balbo Risso, 1820
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Evermannella balbo (Risso, 1820) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: Gill filaments not projecting beyond gill covers. Dorsal finrays 12-13, anal finrays 33-37. Vertebrae 52-54. Colour: in alcohol, typically light brown with numerous, variably sized melanophores arranged in 7-13 irregular rows on sides, most prominent posterior to dorsal fin. Variation in pigmentation ranges from nearly unpigmented specimens with no or very few and extremely punctate melanophores, to highly melanistic specimens essentially covered with brownish-black pigment. Individuals of either extreme of pigmentation occur throughout the range of the species. Size: to 168.5 mm SL.
Habitat: oceanic, mesopelagic; most adults (over 50 mm SL) taken in hauls to depths exceeding 400 m, but also often taken to depths of 100-300 m. Most of the shallower (under 300 m) records for larger adults are from the eastern South Pacific. Larvae (to 30 mm SL) and small juveniles commonly taken in the upper 100 m and frequently in the upper 50 m. In the North Atlantic, larvae and small juveniles taken in every month except December, January and February. Food: midwater fishes. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: whole Mediterranean and Atlantic southward from 59° 49-6' N. Elsewhere, North Atlantic at 60 30° N and equatorial and South Atlantic at about 25-40° S (unknown to north of this). Presumably circumglobal in the transition region of the southern oceans (known from only a single specimen from Indian Ocean).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Schmidt, 1918: 30-36, fig. 20-21 | Rofen, 1966: 559-561, fig. 204 (mainly from Schmidt, 1918) | Haedrich, 1964 : 1-15, 2 fig.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.