Lophodolos

lophodolos dreamers are distinguished from other genera in the family Oneirodidae in the morphology of the frontal bones, the absence of a pterosphenoid bone, the pterygiophore of the illicium is exposed between or posterior to the sphenotic spines, the sphenotic and symphisial spines are very large and the hypobranchials II are close to each other at their medial ends, as are hypobranchials III. They are also distinguished by the short snout, the large mouth raeaching backwards past the eye, the lack of vomerine teeth, the articular bone has spines, the spine obn the quadrate bone is larger than the spine on the mandibular bone, the lobe of the pectoral fin is shorter than the longest rays of that fin and wide, the operculum is forked, and the skin is naked without spinules. The skin extends past tha caudal peduncle and onto the caudal fin. They are relatively long and slender rather than globular and the body is coloured dark brown or black with L. acanthognathus having white on the esca and illicium.^[4] The maximum published standard lengths fot these fishes is 7.7 cm (3.0 in) for L. indicus and 7.9 cm (3.1 in) for L. acanthognathus.^[6]

Lophodolos dreamers have a circumglobal distribution. L. acanthognathus is found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans but does not appear to be uniformy distributed. In the Atlantic Ocean, for example, L. acanthognathus is mainly found between Cuba and Greenland in the western Atlantic and in the eastern Atlantic from 60°N to the continental slope off Africa just south of the equator.^[7] L. indicus is also found in the Atalantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans but has a more tropical distribution.^[8] L. indicus is uncommon in the Western Atlantic whereas L. acanthognathus is rare in the Eastern pacific.^[4] These are bathypelagic fishes which live at depths between 650 and 1,750 m (2,130 and 5,740 ft).^[7][8]