The black snake mackerel (''Nealotus tripes'') is a species of
snake mackerel
The snake mackerel (''Gempylus serpens'') is the sole species of fish in the monotypic genus ''Gempylus'', belonging to the family Gempylidae (which is also referred to generally as "snake mackerels"). It is found worldwide in tropical and sub ...
found worldwide in both tropical and temperate waters where they are found at depths of from making
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 ...
s from
mesopelagic depths to the surface at night. It can reach a length of
SL though most do not exceed SL. It is important to local peoples as a food fish. This species is currently the only known member of its
genus, ''Nealotus''.
That genus is therefore said to be
monotypic.
Parasites
As all fish, the black snake mackerel has a variety of
parasites. A study performed on fish from the subtropical
upwelling region off North-West-
Africa indicated that they harbour
Myxozoa,
Digenea
Digenea (Gr. ''Dis'' – double, ''Genos'' – race) is a class of trematodes in the Platyhelminthes phylum, consisting of parasitic flatworms (known as ''flukes'') with a syncytial tegument and, usually, two suckers, one ventral and one oral. ...
,
Monogenea,
Cestoda,
Nematoda including two species of ''
Anisakis'',
Acanthocephala, and
Copepoda.
[ ]
References
External links
Photograph
Gempylidae
Fish described in 1865
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