| Argyropelecus aculeatus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Stomiiformes |
| Family: | Sternoptychidae |
| Genus: | Argyropelecus |
| Species: | A. aculeatus
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| Binomial name | |
| Argyropelecus aculeatus Valenciennes, 1850
| |
Argyropelecus aculeatus, the lovely hatchetfish or Atlantic silver hatchetfish, is a species of fish in the family Sternoptychidae.[1] It may exceed 70 millimetres (2.8 in) standard length (SL). It lives in the mesopelagic zone of all oceans and performs diel vertical migration.[2] A. aculeatus feeds on a large range of prey items; in the Gulf of Mexico ostracods and copepods dominated the diet of small individuals (<30 mm SL) and euphausiids, molluscs, and fish the diet of larger ones.[3] The silvery coloration and bioluminescence of the lovely hatchetfish allows it to hide from predators and prey in the down-welling light of the twilight zone.[4]
- ^ "Species Argyropelecus aculeatus Valenciennes". FishWisePro. 1850. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ Baird, R. C. (1971). "The systematics, distribution, and zoogeography of the marine hatchetfishes (family Sternoptychidae)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 142: 1–128.
- ^ Hopkins, Thomas L.; Ronald C. Baird (1985). "Feeding ecology of four hatchetfishes (Sternoptychidae) in the eastern Gulf of Mexico". Bulletin of Marine Science. 36 (2): 260–277.
- ^ Dianne J. Bray, 2011, Lovely Hatchetfish, Argyropelecus aculeatus, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 07 Oct 2014, http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3938