Teleostei (teleosts) >
Beryciformes (Sawbellies) >
Melamphaidae (Bigscale fishes or ridgeheads)
Etymology: Melamphaes: Greek, melan, -anos = black + Greek, amphi = both side (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Günther.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 300 - 2516 m (Ref. 4241). Deep-water; 60°N - 47°S
Antitropical. South Atlantic: between 27°S and 46°S (off southwest tip of Africa); southern Indian Ocean, western south Pacific off New Zealand, eastern south Pacific (Ref. 51657). The holotype was caught in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean east of the Kara Dag Seamount. Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951). North Atlantic (between 30°N and 60°N) specimens are probable variants of M. falsidicus (Ref. 87970).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 87971)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Rare species. May be a species complex (J.A. Moore, pers. Comm.). Trawled below 300 m off South Africa and New Zealand (Ref. 4241). Maximum depth from Ref. 58018.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Gon, O., 1990. Melamphaidae. p. 218-221. In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, South Africa. (Ref. 5189)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
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