Alligatorfish

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Alligatorfish
File:Aspidophoroides monopterygius.jpg
Scientific classification Error creating thumbnail:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Cottoidei
Family: Agonidae
Genus: Aspidophoroides
Species:
A. monopterygius
Binomial name
Aspidophoroides monopterygius
(Bloch, 1786)
Synonyms[1]
  • Aspidophoroides groenlandicus Cottus monopterygius
  • Bloch, 1786 Bonnaterre, 1788
  • Valenciennes, 1840 Aspidophoroides borealis
  • Aspidophoroides tranquebar Valenciennes, 1841
  • Cottus indicus Lacépède, 1801
  • Gilbert, 1896 Aspidophoroides bartoni

The alligatorfish (Aspidophoroides monopterygius), also known commonly as the Aleutian alligatorfish and the Atlantic alligatorfish,[2] is a fish in the family Agonidae.[3] It was described by Marcus Elieser Bloch in 1786.[4] It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling fish which is known from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, including western Greenland; Labrador, Canada; and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. It dwells at a depth range of 0–695 metres, most often around 60–150 m, and inhabits sand and mud bottoms mostly on the lower continental shelf all year. It prefers a temperature range of -1.07 to 2.52 °C. Males can reach a maximum total length of 22 centimetres, but more commonly reach a TL of 14.2 cm.[3]

The Alligatorfish is preyed on by the Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) and the Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis).[5] Its own diet consists primarily of benthic crustaceans and bottom fauna.[6]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Synonyms of Aspidophoroides monopterygius at www.fishbase.org.
  2. ^ Common names for Aspidophoroides monopterygius at www.fishbase.org.
  3. ^ a b Aspidophoroides monopterygius at www.fishbase.org.
  4. ^ Bloch, M. E., 1786 [ref. 465] Naturgeschichte der ausländischen Fische. Berlin. v. 2: i-viii + 1-160, Pls. 145–180.
  5. ^ Organisms preying on Aspidophoroides monopterygius at www.fishbase.org.
  6. ^ Food items reported for Aspidophoroides monopterygius at www.fishbase.org.

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