''Stomias boa ferox'' is a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of deep-sea fish in the family

Stomiidae Stomiidae is a family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm. These fish are apex predators and have enormous jaws filled with fang-like teeth. They are ...

Description

''Stomias boa ferox'' has an elongated body and small head; it is up to in length, black underneath and iridescent silver on its flanks, with a

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...

that has a pale stem, dark spot at base of bulb and three blackish filaments. It has six rows of hexagonal areas above a lateral series of large

photophores A photophore is a glandular organ that appears as luminous spots on various marine animals, including fish and cephalopods. The organ can be simple, or as complex as the human eye; equipped with lenses, shutters, color filters and reflectors, ...

. The

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 co ...

and

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 ...

s are opposite each other, just anterior to the

caudal 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 ...

. It can be distinguished from the ''S. boa boa'' subspecies by its larger number of photophores.

Name

The subspecies name ''ferox'' means "wild, ferocious." It is sometimes called dragon-boa, dragonfish or boa dragonfish, but those names are equally applied to ''

Stomias boa ''Stomias boa'', also known as the boa dragonfish, scaly dragonfish, dragon-boa or boa scaly dragonfish, is a species of deep-sea fish in the family Stomiidae. Three subspecies are recognised: * '' Stomias boa boa'' ( A. Risso, 1810) * '' S ...

'' as a species, or the '' S. boa boa'' subspecies. In Icelandic it is ''marsnákur'' ("sea snake") and in

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

''storkjeft'' ("big jaw").

Distribution and habitat

''Stomias boa ferox'' is

mesopelagic The mesopelagic zone (Greek μέσον, middle), also known as the middle pelagic or twilight zone, is the part of the pelagic zone that lies between the photic epipelagic and the aphotic bathypelagic zones. It is defined by light, and begins ...

and bathypelagic, living at depths of , concentrated in the north Atlantic.

Diet

''Stomias boa ferox'' eats midwater fishes and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s; it rises to near the surface to feed at night. It positions itself horizontally in the water column with

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

and

pectoral 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 ...

s spread wide and barbel pointing forward.

Reproduction

''Stomias boa ferox'' is oviparous.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2917175 Stomiidae Fish described in 1842 Taxa named by Johan Reinhardt