Halieutichthys

Halieutichthys batfishes have a flattened head and body which are widened into a rounded disc, with a moderately long tail. The mouth is very small, as is the illicial cavity on the snout which is covered by puffy, membranous folds. The esca is a single bulb. The pupils are covered. There is a buckler at the angle of the preoperculum which is not larger than the nearby bucklers. The openings of the gills are small and they are located to the rear of the upper base of the pectoral fins. The gill rakers are similar to small teeth set on short stalks. They have small dorsal and anal fins which are located to the rear of the body. The bases of the pectoral fins have a wide attachment to the body and the pelvic fins are not reduced in size. The lateral line is complete and there are a pair of lateral line organs on the caudal peduncle just in front of the anus. There are no tubercles along the lateral line. The scales are large, irregular and pitted, resembling small shields. The adults are scaleless on the underside of the body and large areas of the upperside are also without scales.^[8] These are relatively small anglerfishes with the largest being H. aculeatus with a maximum published total length of 10 cm (3.9 in).^[7]

Halieutichthys batfishes are found in the Western Atlantic Ocean. The aculeatus species group is found in the Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern coasts of the United States while H. cariibaeus is found in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. These fishes are found on sandy substrates at depths between 10 and 800 m (33 and 2,625 ft).^[3]