Author: Alcock, 1890Clofna
Scopelengys tristis Alcock, 1890
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Scopelengys tristis Alcock, 1890 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body elongate, moderately slender; dorsal profile of head deeply concave; eye small; mouth large, terminal, jaws extending more than one eye diameter beyond vertical through posterior margin of eye; teeth small; gillrakers 1 (rarely 2) + 1 + 7 (8, rarely 6), total 9 (10, rarely 8 or 11). Dorsal finrays 12 (11-13); anal finrays 13 (12-14); pectoral finrays 15 (14-16); an adipose dorsal fin present. Scales deciduous. No3.0 photophores on body. Colour: no data. Size: to 194 mm.
Habitat: high-oceanic, bathypelagic; adults usually found below 1,000 m, but juveniles at 500-800 m; no evidence of vertical migration; size stratification with depth apparent. Food: no data. Reproduction: sexually mature from about 150 mm.
Distribution: Madeira. Elsewhere, southward to 6° S; also western Atlanfic (2 records in Caribbean off Venezuela), western Indian Ocean (16° N -34° S), western Pacific (3° N-8° S) and eastern Pacific (33° N- 20° S, with a western limit at about 170° W).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). Kotthaus, 1967: 66, fig. 84.