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: Atlantic Ocean, in moderately warm and tropical waters. In the eastern Atlantic, it is found from Madeira to Angola. View Map
von Bertallanfy growth parameters: Madeira (Delgado et al. 2013): Males: L∞=136.5 cm, k=0.143 year-1, t0=-4.950 year, r2=0.990; Females: L∞=147.6 cm, k=0.121 year-1, t0=-4.703 year, r2=0.994.
Reproduction:
Maturity:
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: FishBase: 300 - 1350 m.
Habitat: Adults benthopelagic from 800 to 1350 m; juveniles mesopelagic from 300 to 500 m.
Feeding habits:
Trophic level: FishBase: 4.2
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species. Commercialy it is not distinguished from the closely related A. carbo.
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.
