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Alepocephalus tenebrosus Gilbert, 1892

California slickhead
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Alepocephalus tenebrosus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Alepocephalus tenebrosus (California slickhead)
Alepocephalus tenebrosus
Picture by Van Orden, W.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Alepocephaliformes (Slickheads and tubeshoulders.) > Alepocephalidae (Slickheads)
Etymology: Alepocephalus: Greek, alepos, alepidotos = without scales + Greek, kephale = head (Ref. 45335); tenebrosus: tenebrosus meaning dark or gloomy, coming from the great depths where not even shadows occur.
More on author: Gilbert.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 46 - 5500 m (Ref. 4525). Deep-water

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North Pacific: Bering Sea to at least California, USA. Southeast Pacific: Chile (Ref. 35724).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 61.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15 - 18; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 15 - 18; Vertebrae: 51 - 55. Branchiostegal rays: 6-7.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found near or on bottoms (Ref. 2850). Feed on small crustaceans. Regarded as inferior food because of its soft, fleshy texture (Ref. 4525). Oviparous, with mesopelagic and bathypelagic larvae (Ref. 35724).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous (Ref. 35724).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann, 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p. (Ref. 2850)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: bycatch
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 0.2 - 4.1, mean 2.3 °C (based on 389 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00347 (0.00163 - 0.00737), b=3.19 (3.00 - 3.38), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.50 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 3.7 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.30).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.