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Argyropelecus gigas Norman, 1930

Hatchetfish
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Argyropelecus gigas   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Argyropelecus gigas (Hatchetfish)
Argyropelecus gigas
Picture by Dolgov, A.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Stomiiformes (Lightfishes and dragonfishes) > Sternoptychidae (Marine hatchetfishes) > Sternoptychinae
Etymology: Argyropelecus: Greek, argyros = silvered, silver + Greek, pelekys = axe (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Gigas was a giant in Greek mythology, the child of Uranus and Gaea. The name is applied to taxa that are giants of their kind. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Norman.

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

Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 300 - 1000 m (Ref. 58018), usually 400 - 600 m (Ref. 4054). Deep-water; 72°N - 54°S, 180°W - 180°E

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

Eastern Atlantic: Portugal to South Africa; northern record from south Iceland (Ref. 4739). Western Atlantic: 40°N-40°S, including the Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 27768). One record from the Patagonian region of Argentina (Ref. 27363). Indian Ocean: 0°- 40°S. Eastern Pacific: 15°S-40°S. Western Pacific: 20°N-40°S.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 12.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4462)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 10; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 12 - 13. Dorsal blade present and well developed in front of dorsal fin (Ref. 27363). Deep body (Ref. 37473).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

An oceanic and mesopelagic species (Ref. 4739). No indication of diel migration (Ref. 4739). Adult complement of photophores acquired at about 1.4 cm SL (Ref. 4739).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Quéro, J.-C., J.C. Njock and M.M. de la Hoz, 1990. Sternoptychidae. p. 275-282. 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. 1. (Ref. 4462)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 15 July 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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 | ECOTOX | FAO - 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 | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 5.9 - 11.5, mean 8.6 °C (based on 573 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01950 (0.01065 - 0.03570), b=3.02 (2.86 - 3.18), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.1   ±0.2 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).