Diaphus rafinesquii (Cocco, 1838)
White-spotted lantern fish
photo by Costa, F.

Family:  Myctophidae (Lanternfishes), subfamily: Diaphinae
Max. size:  9.4 cm TL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  bathypelagic; marine; depth range 40 - 2173 m, oceanodromous
Distribution:  Eastern Atlantic: British Isles to Mauritania including the Mediterranean and Iceland (Ref. 12462). Western Atlantic: north of the Gulf Stream. Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951). Also reported from the Indian and the Pacific Oceans (Ref. 26165).
Diagnosis:   
Biology:  High-oceanic, found between 325-750 m during daytime (Ref. 4479). At night, a two layer system occurs, with adults found at 300-600 m and juveniles at 40-200 m (Ref. 4479).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 04 February 2009 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.