Untitled - Alaska Resources Library

Order Myctophiformes
Family Neoscopelidae — Blackchins
Neoscopelus macrolepidotus Johnson, 1863. Glowingfish. To 25 cm (9.8 in) SL (Nafpaktitis 1977).
Circumglobal; Japan (Savinykh and Balanov 1999); British Columbia, probably off Queen Charlotte
Islands (Peden and Hughes 1986). At depths of 300–800 m (984–2,625 ft; Nafpaktitis 1977).
Scopelengys tristis Alcock, 1890. Blackchin or Pacific Blackchin. To 19.4 cm (7.6 in) SL (Nafpaktitis 1977).
Circumglobal; Japan (Nakabo in Nakabo 2002); southern Bering Sea (Mecklenburg et al. 2002) and
British Columbia (A. E. Peden and G. E. Gillespie, pers. comms. to M. L. and C. W. M.) to northern
Chile (30°S; Kong and Melendez 1991). Adults tend to occur deeper than 1,000 m (3,280 ft; Nafpaktitis
1977) to 3,350 m (10,990 ft) or more, and juveniles (less than 10 cm) at 500–800 m (1,640–2,625 ft;
Mecklenburg et al. 2002).
Family Myctophidae — Lanternfishes
Most lanternfishes are epi- and mesopelagic vertical migrators, with lower bathymetric limits not well known.
They move toward the surface at night. We give the overall bathymetric range, not separate daytime and
nighttime depths as sometimes given by authors.
Benthosema glaciale (Reinhardt, 1837). Glacier Lanternfish. To 10.3 cm (4.1 in) SL (Hulley in Okamura
et al. 1995). (The maximum size of 10.3 cm has been reported as both TL and SL.) Northern North
Atlantic and Mediterranean (Hulley in Whitehead et al. 1984); a few records from eastern Canadian
Arctic and one record from Beaufort Sea, Alaska (Mecklenburg et al. 2002). Near surface to 1,250 m
(4,100 ft; Coad 1995).
Benthosema panamense (Tåning, 1932). To 5.5 cm (2.2 in) SL (Wisner 1976). Central Baja California
(Wisner 1976) to Peru (9°07'S, 80°01'W; Chirichigno and Vélez 1998), including Gulf of California
(Wisner 1976). Surface (Wisner 1976) to mesopelagic depths (SIO 63-612).
*Benthosema pterotum (Alcock, 1890). To 5.5 cm (2.2 in) SL. Western North Pacific, northern Indian Ocean,
Red Sea (Nakabo in Nakabo 2002). While adults have not been collected within our range, larvae
identified as this species have been taken as far north as Isla Cedros, central Baja California (Moser et
al. 1994). Mesopelagic.
Benthosema suborbitale (Gilbert, 1913). To 3.9 cm (1.5 in) SL (Hulley in Whitehead et al. 1984). Circumglobal;
Japan (Nakabo in Nakabo 2002); well offshore of southern California (Berry and Perkins 1966) and off
northern Baja California (SIO 60-288) to Chile (Pequeño 1989). Surface to 750 m (2,461 ft; Hulley in
Whitehead et al. 1984).
Bolinichthys longipes (Brauer, 1906). Popeye Lampfish. To 5 cm (2 in) SL (Fujii in Masuda et al. 1984).
Pacific and Indian oceans; southern California to South America (20°S; Wisner 1976). At depths of
50–725 m (164–2,379 ft; Wisner 1976). Orginally as Myctophum longipes. Considered by some authors
in part a synonym of Lepidophanes indicus Nafpaktitis & Nafpaktitis, 1969.
Bolinichthys pyrsobolus (Alcock, 1890). To 4.6 cm (1.8 in) SL (Berry and Perkins 1966). Pacific and Indian
oceans; well offshore of northern California to northern Baja California (Berry and Perkins 1966).
Ceratoscopelus townsendi (Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889). Dogtooth Lampfish. To about 8.5 cm (3.3 in)
SL (Savinykh 1999). Circumglobal; southern British Columbia (48°23'N, 131°27'W; Peden and Hughes
1986) to southern Baja California (27°01'N, 115°15'W; De La Cruz-Agüero and Galván-Magaña 1992)
and Chile (Pequeño 1989). Larvae have been taken south of Cabo San Lucas, southern Baja California
(Moser et al. 1993). Surface to 800 m (2,625 ft; Wisner 1976), reported but not confirmed to 923 m
(3,028 ft; Lauth 1999). Considered by some a synonym of Ceratoscopelus warmingii Lütken, 1892.
43