The abyssal halosaur (''Halosauropsis macrochir'') is a species of bottom-dwelling,

deep-sea fish Deep-sea fish are fish that live in the darkness below the sunlit surface waters, that is below the epipelagic or photic zone of the sea. The lanternfish is, by far, the most common deep-sea fish. Other deep-sea fishes include the flashlight f ...

in the family

Halosauridae Halosaurs are eel-shaped fishes found only at great ocean depths. As the family Halosauridae, halosaurs are one of two families within the order Notacanthiformes; the other being the deep-sea spiny eels, Notacanthidae. Halosaurs are thought to ...

that is found in all oceans at depths of 1100 to 3500 meters. It is the only member of its

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 ...

. Abyssal halosaur can reach total length of at least and weight in excess of . Berstad et al. could not sex fish smaller than 25 cm, giving an indication about length at maturation. Abyssal halosaur are long-lived, with maximum reported age of 36 years, although individuals sampled on the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...

were mostly <20 years. It appears to be an opportunistic feeder, mostly taking epibenthos and small fish.

References

Halosauridae Deep sea fish Fish described in 1878 Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Notacanthiformes-stub