Description: Body very elongate, without scales, cyllindrical anteriorly and compressed posteriorly; tail slender, attenuate. Head long, with elongate jaws and a prominent snout tip. Mouth large, with numerous small teeth. Brownish; pale on the ventral side.
Global Distribution: On continental and insular slopes on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the Mediterranean. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum length 80 cm. Females grow larger than males.
Reproduction: Oviparous. In the Mediterranean, the species is in a resting period from March to July. Vitellogenesis and spawning begin in September and end in January . Fecundity is high (8132 –18755 eggs) and increases with body size. Eggs are pelagic. Leptocephali larvae.
Maturity: Females 53.5 cm (TL), range 42 - 68.2 cm Males 50.5 cm (TL), range 44.6 - 61.3 cm
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations:
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: Females 53.5 cm (TL), range 42 - 68.2 cm
Males 50.5 cm (TL), range 44.6 - 61.3 cm
Habitat: Bathydemersal. Occurs in holes on muddy bottoms on continental and insular slopes.
Feeding habits: Feeds mainly on crustaceans.
Trophic level: FishBase: 3.5
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: No commercial interest.
Conservation status: Global: Not evaluated.
Europe: Least concern.
Nutritional information & food safety:
REFERENCES
Basusta N., Turan C., Gürlek M. (2002). A new fish record from Turkish seas: the blackfin sorcerer Nettastoma melanurum Rafinesque, 1810 (Nettastomidae). Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 26(5), 1185-1187.
Carpenter K.E., ed. (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO, Rome, pp. 601-1374.
Hureau J.-C., ed. (1984-1985). Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO. Accessed through: Marine Species Identification Portal. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://species-identification.org (2014).
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.
Porcu C., Follesa M.C., Gastoni A., Mulas A., Pedoni C., Cau A. (2013). The reproductive cycle of a deep-sea eel, Nettastoma melanurum (Nettastomatidae: Anguilliformes) from the south-eastern Sardinian Sea (central-western Mediterranean). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 93(04): 1105-1115.
