Description: A deep-water fish. Head and body laterally compressed; body is slender, gradually decreasing posteriorly. Mouth very large, with long jaws that allow the fish to swallow very large prey.
Global Distribution: Tropical and temperate Atlantic. Some authors consider it to be circumglobal. These conflicting accounts are due to divergent taxonomic considerations. View Map
Depth range: FishBase: 150 - 3900 m. Specimens larger than 4.5 cm are more frequently collected between 730 and 1900 m. Juveniles are found in shallower water, from 0 to 1,050 m (mean 542 m), with the smallest specimens (>10.0 mm) collected nearest to the surface.
Habitat: Mesopelagic to bathypelagic.
Feeding habits: Feeds on whole fish, often on individuals longer than themselves.
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.2
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Not commercial.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Nieto A., Ralph G.M., Comeros-Raynal M.T., Kemp J., GarcÃa Criado M., Allen D.J., Dulvy N.K., Walls R.H.L., Russell B., Pollard D., GarcÃa S., Craig M., Collette B.B., Pollom R., Biscoito M., Labbish Chao N., Abella A., Afonso P., Ãlvarez H., Carpenter K.E., Clò S., Cook R., Costa M.J., Delgado J., Dureuil M., Ellis J.R., Farrell E.D., Fernandes P., Florin A-B., Fordham S., Fowle, S., Gil de Sola L., Gil Herrera J., Goodpaster A., Harvey M., Heessen H., Herler J., Jung A., Karmovskaya E., Keskin C., Knudsen S.W., Kobyliansky S., KovaÄić M., Lawson J.M., Lorance P., McCully Phillips S., Munroe T., Nedreaas K., Nielsen J., Papaconstantinou C., Polidoro B., Pollock C.M., Rijnsdorp A.D., Sayer C., Scott J., Serena F., Smith-Vaniz W.F., Soldo A., Stump E., Williams J.T. (2015). Europen Red List of Marine Fishes. IUCN and European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 90 pp.
Prokofiev A.M., Kukuev E.I. (2009). Systematics and distribution of black swallowers of the genus Chiasmodon (Perciformes: Chiasmodontidae). Journal of Ichthyology, 49(10): 899-939.
