The Antarctic lanternfish or ''Electrona antarctica'' mainly inhabits the Antarctic deep, warm waters. It is the dominant species in the Southern Ocean. Their life span is about 4–5 years and they mature after 2–3 years. Their maximum length is 12.5 cm. Their feeding depends upon area to area. Small fish primarily feed on
copepod
Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...
s,
euphausiid larvae, and
hyperiids.
[Giovanni, T.M, Wing-Keong Ng, Douglas Redford Tocher. "Fish Oil Replacement and Alternative Lipid Sources in Aquaculture Feeds">"Alternative Marine Resources". Fish Oil Replacement and Alternative Lipid Sources in Aquaculture Feeds, 2011.] This species is mainly the nektonic prey species of seabirds in open water.
["Species Composition and Distribution". Biology of the Southern Ocean, Second Edition, 2007.] It is an important krill predator and serves as prey for a majority of seabirds.
It is one of the southernmost fish species, being recorded as far south as 74°40′S in the
Ross Sea.
References
Myctophidae
Fish of the Southern Ocean
Taxa named by Albert Günther
Fish described in 1878
{{Myctophiformes-stub