Description: Body elongate and compressed. Head profile smooth, gently rising from the tip of the snout to the origin of the dorsal fin. Lower jaw extends anterior to the upper jaw; dentition includes anterior fangs and compressed triangular teeth. Dorsal fin long, partly divided by a deep notch. Pelvic fins absent in adults but present in juveniles as a single spine. Small forked caudal fin. The body is black with an iridescent tint. Inside of mouth and gill cavities also black.
Global Distribution: North Atlantic, on both sides. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 145 cm; common length 70.0 cm (standard length).
von Bertallanfy growth parameters: Madeira (Delgado et al. 2013): Males: L∞=131.9 cm, k=0.166 year-1, t0=-3.078 year, r2=0.979; Females: L∞=136.2 cm, k=0.153 year-1, t0=-4.183 year, r2=0.979.
Reproduction: In the Northeast Atlantic, mature females are observed from October to December. Eggs and larvae are pelagic.
Maturity: Madeira (Delgado et al. 2013): Size at first sexual maturity: males: 97.6 cm total length; females: 117.5 cm TL.
FishBase: range 80 - 85 cm.
Behavioural ecology: Migrates to midwater at night.
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 200 - 1700 m.
Habitat: Bathypelagic. Juveniles are mesopelagic.
Feeding habits: Feeds on crustaceans, cephalopods and fishes (mostly macrourids, morids and alepocephalids).
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.5
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: One of the most important commercial species in Madeira, it is the target of a traditional longline fishery. Commercially it is not distinguished from the closely related A. intermedius.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 112.85 kcal (5.6% DRV)
protein 18.54 g (37.1% DRV)
fat 0.70 g (1.0% DRV)
of which saturates 0.19 g (0.9% DRV)
omega-3 (EPA+DHA): 0.259 g (recommended: 0.250 - 2.0 g daily)
REFERENCES
Delgado, J., Reis, S., González, J. A., Isidro, E., Biscoito, M., Freitas, M., & Tuset, V. M. (2013). Reproduction and growth of Aphanopus carbo and A. intermedius (Teleostei: Trichiuridae) in the northeastern Atlantic. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 29(5): 1008-1014.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Nakamura I., Parin N.V. (1993). FAO species catalogue Vol. 15. Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world (Families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels, snoeks, escolars, gemfishes, sackfishes, domine, oilfish, cutlassfishes, scabbardfishes, hairtails, and frostfishes known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopis No. 125, Vol. 15, 136 pp.
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.
