Oneirodes carlsbergi

Oneirodes carlsbergi has metamorphosed females that share the characteristic features of its genus but can be distinguished from other species by the morphology of its esca, or lure. The esca has an elongated, tapering, and internally pigmented front appendage, which grows relatively longer as the fish matures. Near its tip, there are two unpigmented filaments. Additionally, a central appendage on the esca is typically composed of multiple branched, unpigmented filaments, each with smaller filaments extending from their central parts.

The papilla at the end of the esca is truncated and occasionally has a distal spot of dark pigment near its tip. The crescent-shaped posterior appendage of the esca is laterally compressed, sometimes with pigmentation along its margin towards the tip. There is also an unpigmented filamentous appendage on each side of the esca, with no escal appendages in front of them.

This species has between 1 and 5 teeth on the first epibranchial, teeth on the second pharyngobranchial, between 29 and 180 teeth on the upper jaw, and 53 to 160 teeth on the lower jaw, while there are 4 to 10 vomerine teeth. The maximum recorded standard length for this species is 22.2 cm (8.7 in).^[6]

Oneirodes carlsbergi is a mesopelagic and bathypelagic species, inhabiting depths of 100–2,000 m (330–6,560 ft) in tropical to temperate regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.^[7] It has also been recorded in the Banda Sea.^[8]

In the eastern Atlantic, it is found between 18°N and 8°S, though individual specimens have been recorded off Iceland and Ireland. In the Pacific, most records originate from the eastern Pacific, with additional occurrences in the central equatorial Pacific. Single specimens have also been found in the Java Sea and Banda Sea, as well as a few records from the South China Sea off Taiwan.^[1]