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Myctophiformes (Lanternfishes) >
Myctophidae (Lanternfishes) > Myctophinae
Etymology: Benthosema: Greek, benthos = depth of the sea + Greek, sema, sematos = signal, flag (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / distribuzione batimetrica / distribution range
Ecologia
marino pelagic-oceanic; non migratori; distribuzione batimetrica 0 - 1407 m (Ref. 58426), usually 300 - 400 m (Ref. 82363). Deep-water; 81°N - 7°N, 81°W - 61°E
Eastern Atlantic: Norway and Greenland south to Morocco, and from Mauritania to Guinea (Mauritanian Upwelling Region). Seasonally present from Morocco to Mauritania along the edge of the continental shelf. Also known from the Mediterranean Sea. Western Atlantic: Baffin Bay to northern edge of Gulf Stream. Northwest Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951).
Length at first maturity / Size / Peso / Age
Maturità: Lm 3.6, range 2 - 5.5 cm
Max length : 10.3 cm SL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 4479); Età massima riportata: 8 anni (Ref. 35388)
Spine dorsali (totale) : 0; Raggi dorsali molli (totale) : 13 - 14; Raggi anali molli: 17 - 19. Males with single black-bordered supracaudal gland; females with two infra-caudal luminous patches; occasional specimens with both. Luminous organs in the anal area, 5-6 anteriorly and 5-7 posteriorly, 11-13 total.
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal.
High-oceanic, mesopelagic at depths between 375-800 m during daytime and 12-200 m during night. Depth range from 0-850 m (Ref. 4479) and from 541-1085 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Photophores present. Feeds mainly on calanoid copepods, also euphausiids and copepodites. Feeding occurs at night in Norwegian fjords (Ref. 9209) and in northwest Africa (Ref. 9194). Mature from about 3 cm onward. Spawning peaks in the Mediterranean in late spring with east-to-west progression. Female produces 160-2,000 eggs depending on her size (Ref. 35388).
Spawns both north and south of the Polar Fronts in the eastern North Atlantic. Reported to perish after spawning (Ref. 9707).
Bauchot, M.-L., 1987. Poissons osseux. p. 891-1421. In W. Fischer, M.L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds.) Fiches FAO d'identification pour les besoins de la pêche. (rev. 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de pêche 37. Vol. II. Commission des Communautés Européennes and FAO, Rome. (Ref. 3397)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Pesca: di potenziale interesse
Strumenti
Special reports
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Fonti Internet
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Fonte Biblio.
123201): 1.6 - 12.8, mean 5.1 °C (based on 258 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Fonte Biblio.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5312 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00871 (0.00704 - 0.01078), b=3.09 (3.03 - 3.15), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Fonte Biblio.
69278): 3.1 ±0.29 se; based on food items.
Resilienza (Fonte Biblio.
120179): Medio, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 1.4 - 4.4 anni (K=0.20-0.45; tm=1-3; tmax=8; Fec=162).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (27 of 100).
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Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 123 [33, 471] mg/100g; Iron = 1.07 [0.34, 3.69] mg/100g; Protein = 17.1 [14.5, 19.6] %; Omega3 = 1.11 [0.47, 2.67] g/100g; Selenium = 21.5 [5.3, 95.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 58.7 [7.6, 434.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.697 [0.293, 1.744] mg/100g (wet weight);
