Stoplight loosejaw

📖 Overview

Meso- and bathypelagic . It has been suggested that this species does not undergo substantial diel vertical migration and remains below 500 m . Feeds on crustaceans and fishes .

🔬 Taxonomy

🐟 Physical Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17 - 21; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 18 - 24; Vertebrae: 47 - 51. This species possess the following characters: in male, postorbital photophore (PO) 5.8-11.9% upper jaw length (UJL), 1.5-3.1% SL; female PO 2.8-8.1% UJL, 0.8-11.9% SL; IP photophores 3-5 in 3-5 clusters .: elongated.

🌀 Behaviour

Behavioural data for Stoplight loosejaw is currently being reviewed.

🦐 Diet

While the morphology of M. niger with huge fangs and an enormous gape is typical for its family and suggests adaptations to piscivory, its diet in fact contains a substantial proportion of zooplankton. Some of its documented prey include calanoid copepods, micronekton, decapod shrimps, and other decapods. M. niger digests its prey within a diel cycle, meaning the copepods it consumes at nighttime are digested by the afternoon the following day, which requires it to be constantly feeding on these small prey to sustain its energy. It has been recorded that copepods make up around 69%-83% of M. niger's diet. This suggests that availability of large prey at these depths is often limited. It is suggested that its dominant feeding mode is searching for zooplanktonic prey (copepods in particular) using bioluminescence to illuminate a small search area, since M. niger experiences infrequent encounters with larger prey items. Current research suggests that M. niger has adopted this unique feeding habit in association with the abundance of prey. Recent studies in the eartern Gulf of Mexico indicate that large calanoid copepods are three orders of magnitude more abundant than either fish or shrimp. More research is needed within different regions to confirm this hypothesis. It is suggested that its dominant feeding mode is searching for zooplanktonic prey (copepods in particular) using bioluminescence to illuminate a small search area, with infrequent encounters with larger prey items. The likely origin of the pigment necessary for detecting its long wavelength bioluminescence, a chlorophyll derivative, is the copepods themselves.

🥚 Reproduction

🌍 Habitat & Distribution

Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 500 - 3886 m . Deep-water; 66°N - 35°S, 180°W - 180°E known in the Mediterranean.

🌿 Ecology

📐 Morphometrics

🌡️ Water Parameters & Tolerance

🛡️ Conservation Assessment

📊 Population Risk & Fisheries

🌐 Names & Taxonomy

Scientific Synonyms

🐠 Related Species

🔍 Similar Species

🗺️ Global Occurrence Map

Occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) - 131 records indexed .

👥 Community & Contribute