''Bassogigas gillii'' is a species of

cusk-eel The cusk-eel family, Ophidiidae, is a group of marine bony fishes in the Ophidiiformes order. The scientific name is from the Greek ''ophis'' meaning "snake", and refers to their eel-like appearance. True eels, however, diverged from other ray- ...

found in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, and

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

s at depths of from .

Etymology

The generic name "''Bassogigas''" comes from a combination of two

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words: ''bassus'', which means "deep" and ''gigas'' which means "giant". The specific name honours the American ichthyologist

Theodore Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural histo ...

(1837-1914) who named the genus ''

Bassogigas ''Bassogigas'' is a genus of cusk eel from the subfamily Neobythitinae, part of the family Ophidiidae. The generic name "''Bassogigas''" comes from a combination of two Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Ita ...

'' in an unpublished manuscript.

Description

This species grows to a length of TL. ''B. gillii'' has no

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving s ...

spines but does have between 103 and 110 dorsal rays and 83–88 anal rays. Its spinal column is contains 60–64

vertebra The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...

and its long lateral line (up to 84% the total length) helps to distinguish it from its relative, ''

Bassogigas walkeri ''Bassogigas'' is a genus of cusk eel from the subfamily Neobythitinae, part of the family Ophidiidae. The generic name "''Bassogigas''" comes from a combination of two Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Ita ...

''.Nielsen, J.G. and P.R. Møller, 2011. Revision of the bathyal cusk-eels of the genus Bassogigas (Ophidiidae) with description of a new species from off Guam, west Pacific Ocean. J. Fish Biol. 78:783-795.

Distribution and habitat

''B. gillii'' is found throughout the Indian and west Pacific Oceans from the tip of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

to New Caledonia including

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. It is also found in the western Atlantic Ocean, though not the eastern, and is known from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Other important areas where ''B. gillii'' can be found include the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

Bear Seamount The Bear Seamount is a guyot or flat-topped underwater volcano in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the oldest of the New England Seamounts, which was active more than 100 million years ago. It was formed when the North American Plate moved over the Ne ...

and

Agulhas Current The Agulhas Current () is the western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong. It is suggested that it is the largest western boundary curren ...

.Moore, J.A., M. Vecchione, K.E. Hartel, B.B. Collette, J.K. Galbraith, R. Gibbons, M. Turnipseed, M. Southworth and E. Watkins, 2001. Biodiversity of Bear seamount, New England seamount chain: results of exploratory trawling. Scientific Council Research Document. Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization. Dartmouth NS 01/155:8p. It can general be found living on or near the bottom at depths between 637 and 2239 meters.Mincarone, M.M., J.G. Nielsen and P.A.S. Costa, 2008. Deep-sea ophidiiform fishes collected on the Brazilian continental slope, between 11° and 23°S. Zootaxa 1770:41-64.

References

Ophidiidae Fish described in 1896 {{Ophidiidae-stub