''Melanocetus murrayi'', commonly known as Murray's abyssal anglerfish, is a

deep sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

anglerfish The anglerfish are ray-finned fish in the order Lophiiformes (). Both the order's common name, common and scientific name comes from the characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified dorsal Fish fin#Ray-fins, fin ray acts as a Aggressiv ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Melanocetidae Black seadevils are small, deep-sea lophiiform fish of the family Melanocetidae. The six known species are all within the genus ''Melanocetus''. They are found in tropical to temperate waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and in the Pacific Oceans ...

, found in tropical to temperate parts of the world's oceans at depths down to over .

Taxonomy

''Melanocetus murrayi'' was first described by the German zoologist

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther , also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3October 18301February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive reptile tax ...

in 1887 from material dredged up from the deep on the

Challenger expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific programme that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by W ...

of 1872 to 1876, the first scientific attempt to research the ocean depths; it was named in honour of Sir John Murray, a British biologist who took part in the expedition and was one of the founders of the new study of

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

Description

Like other anglerfish in the

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 ...

, the female ''M. murrayi'' has a large oblique mouth, jaws with long depressible fangs, small nostrils raised on a prominence, an illiceum (a long modified dorsal spine used as a lure), and skin without scales. It differs from others in the genus in having the width between the eyes between 2/5 and 4/7 of the width of the head and the lower jaw being 2/5 to 1/2 the fish's length. The illicium is 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the fish, and the

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...

esca on the tip is oval, sometimes with a raised crest at the back. The second dorsal fin has 12 to 14 soft rays, the anal fin has 3 to 4, the pectoral fin 15 to 18 and the caudal fin 9. Females grow to a length of about and males to .

Distribution

''M. murrayi'' has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

in tropical to temperate parts of the world's oceans, between about 64°N and 43°S, and at depths from the surface down to over , although most of the individuals recovered have been at greater depths than .

Status

This fish, sometimes caught as

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

in deep sea trawling, is known from records of over three hundred female fish and four free-swimming males. Most of the sightings are at depths below and the fish appears to be an uncommon species. However, no particular threats to the species have been identified, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3153080 Melanocetidae Deep sea fish Fish described in 1887 Taxa named by Albert Günther