''Myctophum affine'', the metallic lanternfish, is a species of

lanternfish Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μυκτήρ ''myktḗr'', "nose" and ''ophis'', "serpent") are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represente ...

native to the

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 ...

. ''Myctophum affine'' grows to a length of SL.

Description

Phenotypic observations of ''Myctophum affine'' presume that males carry dorsal luminous scales, while females of the species have luminous ventral scales. It is stated that males typically possess seven or eight luminous dorsal scales, while females usually have three to four luminous ventral scales. The luminous scales of male ''Myctophum affine'' begin to develop at smaller sizes than those of the female ( Gibbs, 1957).

References

* * Gibbs, R. H. (1957). A taxonomic analysis of Myctophum affine and M. nitidulum, two lantern-fishes previously synonymized, in the western North Atlantic. ''Deep Sea Research (1953)'', ''4''(1), 230–237. Science Direct. https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6313(56)90055-7 *Hulley, P.A., 1990. Myctophidae. p. 398-467. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI; Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. Myctophidae Taxa named by Christian Frederik Lütken Fish described in 1892 {{Myctophiformes-stub