Parin's spinyfin, Parin's spinyfish, black discfish, black spinyfin, or spiny discfish (''Diretmichthys parini'') is a

spinyfin Spinyfins are a family, Diretmidae, of trachichthyform fishes. The family name is derived from the type genus, '' Diretmus'', from Greek, ''di'' meaning "two" and ''eretmos'' meaning "oar". They are found worldwide in deep waters, as deep as . ...

of the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Diretmichthys''. Adults are found in oceans at depths of between 500 m to 2100 m. Its length is up to 40 cm.

Distribution

Parin's spinyfish is a rare species but is widely distributed. It is found in the Western

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, Western

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

and Eastern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

s. ''Diretmichthys parini'' is also found in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

. Its latitudinal

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

is 40°N–40°S. In the month-long NORFANZ Expedition of 2003 which was examining the

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of the

seamount A seamount is a large submarine landform that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet, or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly a ...

s and slopes of the

Norfolk Ridge The Norfolk Ridge (Norfolk Island Ridge, Norfolk Rise, South New Caledonia Ridge) is a long submarine ridge running between New Caledonia and New Zealand, about off the east-coast of Australia. It is part of a complex region of ridges between ...

near

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, thirteen specimens averaging 900g (2 lb), were collected from nine locations.NORFANZ Voyage
Retrieved Oct. 29, 2011

Description

This fish lacks

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

spines, but it has 26–29 dorsal soft rays. The tip of its

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

extends to origin of its anal fin. Adults are greyish black in color.

Behavior

''Diretmichthys parini'' feeds on small

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s and

planktonic Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in water (or air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they pro ...

organisms. It breeds throughout the year.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2411733, from2=Q15693047 Diretmidae Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish described in 1981