The shortfin spiny eel (''Notacanthus bonaparte''), also called Bonaparte's spiny eel, is a member of the family Notacanthidae, the deep-sea spiny eels, which are not true eels ( Anguilliformes).

Distribution

The shortfin spiny eel lives in the

Eastern Atlantic 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 an ...

and Mediterranean Sea; it has been found in the Adriatic Sea. It lives in the bathypelagic zone at depths of .

Description

''Notacanthus bonaparte'' is grey or pink in colour and has a maximum length of . It has a short snout, long head, mouth on the underside. Its dorsal fin has up to nine spines, while the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is long and has up to fourteen spines. Males are smaller and have enlarged nasal rosettes.

Behaviour

The shortfin spiny eel feeds on bryozoans, ophiuroids,

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

s and sponges.

Life cycle

The shortfin spiny eel spawns in June and July in the Mediterranean.

References

* Notacanthidae Fish described in 1840 {{Notacanthiformes-stub