Marine Species Identification Portal : Hoplostethus atlanticus

Author: Collett, 1889

Hoplostethus atlanticus Collett, 1889

Diagnosis: head moderate, about 33-35% of SL; eye small, about 23% of head; no spines on opercular or post-temporal bones. Enlarged scales in abdominal midline sometimes present, sometimes not. Colour: dark orange, red on head and body (from a specimen frozen for 18 months); opercular membranes black; branchiostegals red outside, black inside; anus black; fins bright orange; membranes of spinous dorsal black; inside of buccal cavity black. Size: generally to 50-60 cm SL, some 20-30 cm; the holotype from off the Azores is 13.5 cm in total length.

Habitat: apparently a bottom-living species in about 200-400 m depth. Food: both crustaceans and fish have been found in the stomachs of various specimens. Reproduction: practically nothing is known about the reproduction. A ripe female measuring 451 mm SL has been taken in September off Rockland, Maine.

Dlstribution: from Bay of Biscay to Iceland, also the Azores. Elsewhere, in the south Atlantic off the Cape of South Africa and in the western Atlantic from the Gulf of Maine.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Collett, 1889, fig. 12. Otoliths (sagitta). Karrer, 1975, fig. 17.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.

Hoplostethus atlanticus