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Cubiceps baxteri McCulloch, 1923

Black fathead
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Cubiceps baxteri   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Cubiceps baxteri (Black fathead)
Cubiceps baxteri
Picture by Gloerfelt-Tarp, T.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Scombriformes (Mackerels) > Nomeidae (Driftfishes)
Etymology: Cubiceps: Latin, cubus = cube + Latin, ceps = head (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: R E Baxter was an amateur naturalist on Lord Howe Island. He sent ‘an interesting collection’ of fish specimens to the Australian Museum, including the fathead holotype.He was still making observations and sending material in the 1950s. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.

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

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; depth range 1 - 100 m (Ref. 58302). Subtropical; 32°N - 47°S

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

Atlantic and Pacific: in tropical and subtropical waters. A single record to date from the Indian Ocean.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6891)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 20 - 24; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 19 - 22; Vertebrae: 31. Dark brown in color, large specimens black; median fins dark, pectorals pale; eye blue (Ref. 4412).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

An oceanic, epipelagic to mesopelagic species (Ref. 6891). Feeds mainly on salps (Ref. 33689). Potentially valuable food fish in warm temperate and tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific (Ref. 9811). May be caught using a pelagic trawl (Ref. 33689).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Haedrich, R.L., 1990. Nomeidae. p. 1014-1018. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 6891)

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: of potential interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

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): 15.7 - 28.6, mean 26.4 °C (based on 1914 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5010   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00851 (0.00442 - 0.01638), b=3.13 (2.95 - 3.31), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.4   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (60 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.