''Leptostomias gladiator'' is a species of fish in the family Stomiidae (barbeled dragonfish). It is sometimes called the scaleless dragonfish, but that name is shared with many other species.

Description

''Leptostomias gladiator'' has a slender body, blackish brown to deep black. The bulb of its barbel is creamy yellow, and its photophores are violet. Its length is maximum . It has 19–22 dorsal

soft rays Fish anatomy is the study of the form or morphology of fish. It can be contrasted with fish physiology, which is the study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. In practice, fish anatomy and fish physiology co ...

and 23–29 anal soft rays. It has 77 vertebrae.

Habitat

''Leptostomias gladiator'' lives in non-polar oceans worldwide. It is

bathypelagic The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagic ...

, living at depths up to .

Behaviour

''Leptostomias gladiator'' eats lanternfish.

References

Stomiidae Fish described in 1911 Taxa named by Erich Zugmayer {{Stomiiformes-stub