The Grammicolepididae are a small family of deep-sea fishes, called tinselfishes due to their silvery color. They are related to the

dories A dory is a small, shallow-draft boat, about long. It is usually a lightweight boat with high sides, a flat bottom and sharp bows. It is easy to build because of its simple lines. For centuries, the dory has been used as a traditional fishin ...

, and have similar deeply compressed bodies. The largest species, the

thorny tinselfish ''Grammicolepis brachiusculus'', the thorny tinselfish, is a species of tinselfish found in deep oceanic waters at depths of from . This species grows to a length of TL. This species is the only known member of its genus Genus ( plural g ...

, ''Grammicolepis brachiusculus'', grows up to long. They are found in isolated areas of the

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

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

s, where they inhabit deep waters: they have been found down to about . They are rarely caught in trawls. Five have been caught south of the Bay of Biscay. One was caught off Scotland in 2004, and one off Co. Kerry, Ireland in December 2010 by Rossaveal trawler "Maria Magdelena III"

References

* * Grammicolepididae Zeiformes {{Zeiformes-stub