Author: Günther, 1878
Bathysaurus ferox Günther, 1878
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Bathysaurus ferox Günther, 1878 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: adipose fin absent. Dorsal fin base long, c. twice length of anal fin base. Lateral line extending on to caudal fin. Sixth or seventh pectoral finray with its upper branch elongated and upturned. Dorsal finrays 17-18; anal finrays 11-13; pelvic finrays 8; pectoral finrays 15. Branchiostegal rays 12, lateral line scales 70-74. Vertebrae 63. Colour: grey to charcoal. Size: to 61 cm max. (55-60 cm typically). About 150 specimens have been captured worldwide.
Habitat: benthic at 1,0000-3,500 m, most commonly shallower than 2,000 m (but below the 4 °C isotherm). Food: see genus. Reproduction: larva is Regan's (1903, 1911) 'Macristium chavesi' (Ida and Tom inaga, 1971; Johnson, 1974; Marshall, 1961; Rosen, 1971). Hermaph roditic gonads described (Wenner, 1978).
Distribution: in the western Atlantic adults are known from the Davi< Strait to the Rio Grande Rise; in the eastern Atlantic from off Northerr Ireland to off South Africa. Not- recorded from the Mediterranean. In the Pacific known from the type locality off New Zealand. Not recorded from the Indian Ocean. 'Macristium chavesi' larvae known from off Hispaniola, the Azores, the Bay of Biscay, the Indian Ocean.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Marshall, 1961: 356-360, fig. 1-3 (young stages).
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.