Anotopterus pharao

Daggertooth (Anotopterus pharao, meaning "without fins on its back, of the Pharaoh") is a daggertooth described in 1911 by E. Zugmayer. The distribution occurs in the North Atlantic Ocean and west of Africa. The record size for this species is 96 cm and was hermaphroditic. Daggerteeth are occasionally found dead in bottom trawls that look for firefly squid or shrimp. They are similar to needlefish or gars. However, they are distinct. Netted daggertooth specimens are rarely identifiable, mostly because of their soft bodies, which are easily torn or flattened. This is typical of benthic animals of the deep ocean, like some transparent squids. In fact, the bodies are so soft that when pushed againsed the back of a trawl net, they often die because their organs are crushed and they rip. The habitat of the daggertooth is the open abyss, where there are few obstacles with which to come into physical contact.

References

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=2729&genusname=Anotopterus&speciesname=pharao http://access.afsc.noaa.gov/ichthyo/LHDataIll.cfm?GSID=Anotopterus!pharao