Gargoyle fish

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iGargoyle fish
Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Gadiformes Family: Macrouridae Subfamily: Macrourinae Genus: Caelorinchus Species: C. mirus
Binomial name
Caelorinchus mirus McCulloch, 1926

The gargoyle fish or small-eye rattail, Caelorinchus mirus, is a rattail of the genus Caelorinchus, found around southeast Australia and between New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, at depths of between 130 and 800 m. Its length is between 20 to 35 cm.

The uncommon gargoyle fish has the usual greatly elongated and pointed tail of the rattails, but has smaller eyes, and a high first dorsal fin.

Body colour is greyish, with indistinct darker vertical stripes.

[edit] References

• "Caelorinchus mirus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. April 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
• Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8