Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Perciformes (Perch-likes) >
Epigonidae (Deepwater cardinalfishes)
Etymology: Epigonus: Greek, epi = over, in front + Greek, gonio = angle (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 75 - 1200 m (Ref. 4738), usually 300 - 800 m (Ref. 4738). Deep-water; 65°N - 43°S
North Atlantic: Iceland to the Canary Islands and Corner Seamounts. One specimen off North America (Ref. 7321). Southeast Atlantic, Indian and Southwest Pacific: Walvis Ridge off southwestern Africa to New Zealand.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 56.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 75.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5755); common length : 55.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9258); max. reported age: 104 years (Ref. 39263)
Dorsal
spines
(total): 7 - 8;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 9-11;
Anal
spines: 2;
Anal
soft rays: 9. No opercular spines. 8 spines on first dorsal fin (Ref. 31632). Snout blunt, eye large. Mouth large, lower jaw equaling or slightly protruding beyond upper jaw. Pyloric caeca 21-34. Brown-violet or black, iridescent in life.
Adults benthic or benthopelagic on the continental slopes; juveniles pelagic (Ref. 7321). Found on soft bottoms (Ref. 27121). Non-territorial. Carnivorous, feed on small fishes and planktonic invertebrates.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Maugé, L.A. and G.F. Mayer, 1990. Apogonidae. p. 714-718. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 7321)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 115941)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial
More information
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
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Estimates of some properties based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
115969): 4.6 - 13.8, mean 8.9 (based on 755 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01950 (0.01145 - 0.03321), b=2.98 (2.83 - 3.13), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 3.6 ±0.3 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tmax=104).
Prior r = 0.07, 2 SD range = 0.02 - 0.27, log(r) = -2.66, SD log(r) = 0.66, Based on: 1 M, 1 K, 2 tgen, 1 tmax, records
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): High to very high vulnerability (70 of 100) .