Teleostei (teleosts) >
Stomiiformes (Lightfishes and dragonfishes) >
Stomiidae (Barbeled dragonfishes) > Malacosteinae
Etymology: Malacosteus: Greek, malakos = soft + Greek, osteon = bone (Ref. 45335); australis: Name from Latin austral, meaning southern, for the geographical range of this species.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 500 - 2000 m (Ref. 78501). Subtropical; 25°S - 45°S
Circumglobal: subtropical and temperate waters of the southern hemisphere, 25°-45°S and equatorial Indian Ocean and Indo-Australasian Archipelago.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 16.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 78501); 19.2 cm SL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 21; Anal soft rays: 18 - 23; Vertebrae: 45 - 51. This species possess the following characters: in male, postorbital photophore (PO) 3.7-6.4% upper jaw length (UJL), 0.9-1.7% SL; female PO 2.5-4.4% UJL, 0.6-1.2% SL; IP photophores 5-7 in 3-7 clusters (Ref. 78501).
Only a few were caught above 500 m, thus it appears that this species does not regularly migrate on a diel basis out of the mesopelagic. With its large accessory orbital photophore (AO), this species likely uses this in employing a far-red visual system as part of its foraging strategy (Ref. 78501).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Kenaley, C.P., 2007. Revision of the stoplight loosejaw genus Malacosteus (Teleostei: Stomiidae: Malacosteinae), with description of a new species from the temperate Southern Hemisphere and Indian Ocean. Copeia 2007(4):886-900. (Ref. 78501)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: bycatch
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 1.2 - 2.1, mean 1.8 °C (based on 558 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.7500 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00407 (0.00157 - 0.01056), b=3.10 (2.88 - 3.32), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.1 ±0.7 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 (13 of 100).
