Warming's lantern fish, ''Ceratoscopelus warmingii'', is a
lanternfish of the
family Myctophidae, found circumglobally in both hemispheres, at depths of between during the day and between at night. Its length is about .
Description
Warming's lantern fish grows to a length of about . The rounded dorsal fin has 13 to 15 soft rays and the anal fin has a similar number of soft rays.
The body has patches and scale-like specks of
bioluminescent
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorganisms including ...
material.
Distribution and habitat
This lantern fish has a circumglobal distribution. In the Atlantic Ocean it ranges between 42°N and 40°S while in the Indian Ocean it ranges between 20°N and 42°S. It is replaced in the northeastern Pacific Ocean by ''
Ceratoscopelus townsendi
''Ceratoscopelus'' is a genus of lanternfish.
Species
There are currently three recognized species in this genus:
* ''Ceratoscopelus maderensis
''Ceratoscopelus'' is a genus of lanternfish
Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μ ...
'' but is otherwise present in tropical and sub-tropical waters, being particularly common around South Africa and in the southern and eastern China Sea.
The species participates in
diel vertical migration
Diel vertical migration (DVM), also known as diurnal vertical migration, is a pattern of movement used by some organisms, such as copepods, living in the ocean and in lakes. The word ''diel'' comes from the Latin ''dies'' day, and means a 24-h ...
. During the day it occurs between , in the
ocean's
mesopelagic and
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 ...
zones, rising during the night to feed in the
epipelagic zone between , most commonly in the depth range.
[
]
Ecology
The diet is mostly zooplankton,[ but in the ]North Pacific Gyre
The North Pacific Gyre (NPG) or North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG), located in the northern Pacific Ocean, is one of the five major oceanic gyres. This gyre covers most of the northern Pacific Ocean. It is the largest ecosystem on Earth, locate ...
, Warming's lantern fish was found to feed at night on floating mats of '' Rhizosolenio'' ( diatoms). This example of herbivory, unusual among deep sea fish, has led to modifications of the gut.
Status
This deep sea migratory fish is of no interest to commercial fisheries and it faces no particular threats. It is common throughout its range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed it as being of " least concern".
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1094565
Myctophidae
Fish described in 1892