Teleostei (teleosts) >
Stomiiformes (Lightfishes and dragonfishes) >
Phosichthyidae (Lightfishes)
Etymology: Vinciguerria: Because of Decio Vinciguerria, Italian ichthyiologist from Genova, 1856-1934 (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Dr Decio Vinciguerra (1856–1934) was an Italian physician, naturalist and ichthyologist at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova (1883–1931). [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on authors: Jordan & Williams.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 20 - 5000 m (Ref. 4470), usually ? - 400 m (Ref. 3988). Deep-water; 42°N -
Western Central Atlantic: Florida (USA), Cuba and the Antilles, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean (Ref. 26340). Eastern Atlantic: 42°N to the tropical region. Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951). Indo-Pacific. Southeast Pacific: Chile (Ref. 9068). South China Sea (Ref.74511).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 3.4, range 3 - ? cm
Max length : 5.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 126117); common length : 3.7 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 56527); max. published weight: 2.10 g (Ref. 126117)
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 15; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 13 - 16. Dorsum dark, flanks silvery; upper pectoral and outer caudal speckled (Ref. 3988). Two suborbital photophores present, anal fin originated beneath the middle or latter half of the dorsal fin (Ref. 37473).
Epi- to abyssopelagic (Ref. 58302) but usually mesopelagic, mainly found at 200-400 m by day and upper 100 m by night (Ref. 4778). Both juveniles and adults exhibit diel vertical migration (Ref. 4778). Feeds mainly on copepods, feeding intensively in the afternoon to early evening (Ref. 4778). Adult photophore complement attained at about 18-20 mm SL (Ref. 4778).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Quéro, J.-C., J.C. Njock and M.M. de la Hoz, 1990. Photichthyidae. p. 343-348. 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. 4470)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: bycatch
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 12.2 - 28.8, mean 24.6 °C (based on 6344 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5312 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00871 (0.00476 - 0.01595), b=3.09 (2.92 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.2 ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm<1; K=5.9; tmax=0.6).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
