| Silver hatchetfishes Temporal range: Chattian to Present
| |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| Argyropelecus lychnus, conventional and X-ray images | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Stomiiformes |
| Family: | Sternoptychidae |
| Subfamily: | Sternoptychinae |
| Genus: | Argyropelecus Cocco, 1829 |
| Diversity | |
| 7 species | |
Argyropelecus is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus in the deep sea hatchetfish family Sternoptychidae. A collective name is "silver hatchetfishes", but this can also refer to a species of the freshwater hatchetfishes which are not particularly closely related to this. The large pupils of these marine hatchetfishes enable them to see dim objects in the deep sea, where light barely penetrates.