Scopelopsis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Myctophiformes |
Family: | Myctophidae |
Genus: |
Scopelopsis A. B. Brauer, 1906 |
Species: | S. multipunctatus
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Binomial name | |
Scopelopsis multipunctatus
A. B. Brauer, 1906 Brauer.
"scopelopsis multipunctatus". fishbase.
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Scopelopsis multipunctatus, the multispotted lanternfish, is a species of lanternfish. This species grows to a length of 9.5 cm (3.7 in). [1]
Scopelopsis multipunctatus has round eyes, a long and slender body, and a forked homocercal caudal fin. [2]
Scopelopsis multipunctatus' larvae are slender and range in size anywhere from 5-18 mm (0.2-0.7 in), with its head spanning about a quarter of the body length. [2] Their eyes are large at younger stages and decrease in size relative to their head over time. [2]
They develop a pattern of melanophores along the ventral side of the body, as well as the head, dorsal fin, and caudal fin, as they mature. [2] Photophores also develop along the ventral half of the body during the larval stages of the multispotted lanternfish. [2]
Scopelopsis multipunctatus follow a subtropical zoogeographic pattern. [3] Its distribution is restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, ranging from 15-25° S in the Pacific Ocean and 23-29° S in the Indian Ocean. [4] [5]
They can be found in both warm and cold waters of the ocean. [1]
The diet of Scopelopsis multipunctatus consists of copepods; amphipods and euphausiids; larval molluscs, ostracods, polychaetes, and siphonophores; and salps. [1]