Author: Zugmayer, 1911
Benthalbella infans Zugmayer, 1911
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Benthalbella infans Zugmayer, 1911 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays 8-9, anal finrays 20-25, pectoral finrays 25-28, shorter than pelvic fin. Scales in lateral line 55-59. Luminous organs present on isthmus (IO), within the pelvic fin musculature (POa), just posterior to the pelvic fin bases (POp) and just anterior to the anus (A). Colour: in alcohol, uniformly dull brown, slightly darker on the edges of scale pockets; a dense black stripe along belly between POp and AO luminous organs; pigment present on all fins. Size: to 138 mm SL.
Habitat: oceanic, meso- or bathypelagic. Some night-time records of adults are from the upper 200 m, but most are from hauls to depths considerably in excess of 500 m; larvae taken in all parts of the range all times of the year, most commonly in hauls to depths between 300 and 600 m. Food: adults prey on other midwater fishes. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: widespread in southern oceanic areas northward to 61° 04' N; absent in Mediterranean. Elsewhere, tropical and subtropical regions of all the oceans, but unknown in the eastern Pacific.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. The specimens described under this species are likely to be larvae, unless this is a neotenic species.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.