Melanocetus murrayi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Murray's abyssal anglerfish | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Lophiiformes |
| Family: | Melanocetidae |
| Genus: | Melanocetus |
| Species: | M. murrayi |
| Binomial name | |
| Melanocetus murrayi | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Melanocetus murrayi, commonly known as Murray's abyssal anglerfish, is a deep sea anglerfish in the family Melanocetidae, found in tropical to temperate parts of the world's oceans at depths down to over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
Melanocetus murrayi was first described by the German zoologist Albert Günther in 1887 from material dredged up from the deep on the Challenger expedition of 1872 to 1876, the first scientific attempt to research the ocean depths; it was named in honour of Sir John Murray, a British biologist who took part in the expedition and was one of the founders of the new study of oceanography.[3]
Description
Like other anglerfish in the genus, the female M. murrayi has a large oblique mouth, jaws with long depressible fangs, small nostrils raised on a prominence, an illiceum (a long modified dorsal spine used as a lure), and skin without scales. It differs from others in the genus in having the width between the eyes between 2/5 and 4/7 of the width of the head and the lower jaw being 2/5 to 1/2 the fish's length. The illicium is 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the fish, and the bioluminescent esca on the tip is oval, sometimes with a raised crest at the back.[4] The second dorsal fin has 12 to 14 soft rays, the anal fin has 3 to 4, the pectoral fin 15 to 18 and the caudal fin 9. Females grow to a length of about 13.5 cm (5 in) and males to 2.8 cm (1.1 in).[5]