Melanocetus johnsonii  Günther, 1864

Humpback anglerfish
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Melanocetus johnsonii   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Melanocetus johnsonii (Humpback anglerfish)
Melanocetus johnsonii
Picture by Ho, H.-C.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Lophiiformes (Anglerfishes) > Melanocetidae (Black seadevils)
Etymology: Melanocetus: Greek, melan, -anos = black + Greek, ketos = a marine monster, whale (Ref. 45335).   More on author: Günther.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 100 - 4500 m (Ref. 74511), usually 100 - 1500 m (Ref. 4118).   Deep-water; 50°N - 50°S, 180°W - 180°E

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 2.9 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4491); 18.0 cm TL (female)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-17; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 3 - 5. Esca with compressed posterior and anterior crests; anterior margin of vomer nearly straight; minute skin spines present over most of body (Ref. 13608). Branchiostegal rays 6 (Ref. 36493). Caudal-fin rays 8. Scales are cone-shaped, hollow and translucent; with circular base and a free edge pointing towards the caudal region. Left otolith, oblong shape with regular edges, inner face does not present rostrum, antirostrum or cisure (Ref. 41244).

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

Tropical to temperate parts of all oceans. South China Sea and East China Sea (Ref.74511).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Meso- and bathypelagic (Ref. 58302). Males dwarfed and non-parasitic (Ref. 4491). Caught with plankton nets (Ref. 559). Capable of catching and swallowing prey larger than itself, as witness the approximately 24.0 cm SL specimen of Chauliodus sp. in the stomach of a 6.6 cm SL individual (NMNZ P 14537) (Ref. 58502). Larvae are found primarily in upper 100 m (Ref. 36493). Oviparous, with planktonic larvae (Ref. 36493). Eggs are presumably contained in floating gelatinous rafts (Ref. 36493).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Anderson, M.E. and R.W. Leslie, 2001. Review of the deep-sea anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) of southern Africa. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 70:30 p.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Not Evaluated 

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01995 (-0.15505 - 0.19495), b=3.01 (2.92 - 3.10), based on all LWR estimates for this BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.69 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  .
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.