Scaly dragonfish
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| Scaly dragonfish | ||||||||||||||||
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| Stomias boa boa (Risso, 1810) |
The scaly dragonfish, Stomias boa boa, is a small abyssal barbeled dragonfish of the family Stomiidae, found worldwide in tropical, subtropical and temperate oceans (except the north Pacific and northwest Atlantic Oceans), at depths of between 200 and 1,500 m. Its length is between 20 and 32 cm.
The scaly dragonfish's head appears to be all jaws and eye with a short thick chin barbel. All the fins, apart from the pectorals, are set well back towards the tail. There are longitudinal rows of iridescent hexagonal pigmented areas on the sides, each covered by a thin transparent scale. There are large numbers of photophores, on the head and body, and these are used to distinguish the different Stomias species.
[edit] References
- "Stomias boa boa". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 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
