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Macroramphosus scolopax (Linnaeus, 1758)

Longspine snipefish
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Macroramphosus scolopax   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Macroramphosus scolopax (Longspine snipefish)
Macroramphosus scolopax
Picture by Hernández-González, C.L.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Syngnathiformes (Pipefishes and seahorses) > Centriscidae (Snipefishes and shrimpfishes) > Macroramphosinae
Etymology: Macroramphosus: Greek, makros = great + Greek, rhamphos = beak, bill (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range 25 - 600 m (Ref. 9563), usually 50 - 350 m (Ref. 47377). Subtropical; 66°N - 43°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Gulf of Maine to Argentina (Ref. 37039). Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. Indo-West Pacific. Mainly in temperate latitudes between 20° and 40°N. Presence in Somalia to be confirmed (Ref. 30573).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4508); common length : 12.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4508)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 6 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 13; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 18 - 20; Vertebrae: 24. Reddish pink in color, silvery below (Ref. 5382). Body compressed, without scales. Mouth is placed at the end of the long tubular snout (Ref. 35388). Snout length (6.1cm), length of second dorsal spine (LDS 3.9 cm) (Ref. 39875).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found between the seabed and midwater on the lower continental shelf, over sand. Juveniles found in oceanic surface waters (Ref. 2683); adults normally live close to the bottom (normally in 50-350 m depth (Ref. 47377)). Gregarious. Juveniles feed mainly on pelagic invertebrates, mainly copepods, while adults feed on bottom invertebrates (Ref. 6732). Seems to be sympatric with Macroramphosus gracilis (Lowe, 1839) all around the world (Ref. 89357).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Ehrich, S., 1990. Macroramphosidae. p. 656-657. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4508)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 29 January 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 6.5 - 22.7, mean 13.6 °C (based on 2092 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7502   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00891 (0.00676 - 0.01176), b=2.83 (2.75 - 2.91), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.40 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.36-0.46; tmax=6).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (27 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 110 [58, 243] mg/100g; Iron = 1.23 [0.67, 2.37] mg/100g; Protein = 17.8 [16.5, 19.1] %; Omega3 = 0.456 [0.247, 0.880] g/100g; Selenium = 36.1 [17.7, 78.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.3 [3.0, 42.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.741 [0.499, 1.099] mg/100g (wet weight);