View data on Catalog of Fishes here.
Dorsal-fin rays 13–14; anal-fin rays 15–17; pectoral-fin rays (rarely 12) 13–14; total gill rakers (rarely 20) 21–24; vertebrae 33–34. Medium size species, not often exceeding 60 mm SL; trunk tapering into long, narrow, caudal peduncle; its depth less or equal to length of subcaudal photophore group; post-temporal spine long, its length more than one-half the distance from its base to point of dorsal spine; second basal post-temporal spine long; dorsal surface of post-temporal spine relatively smooth, lacking marked serrations; supra-abdominal photophores arranged in steplike fashion, each raised an approximate equal distance, above the next; abdominal keel scales spinose, although spines very short; scales below subcaudal photophores with several prominent spines; preopercle spine directed, at its base, posteriorly, curving distally to point ventrally or slightly anteriorly; jaws medium; teeth minute; gill rakers long; pigment in preservative dark dorsally with narrow, dark bar extending toward midline; pigment diffuse on trunk.
Post-temporal spine complex, bearing one or two basal supplementary spines; dorso-lateral edge of fused, post-temporal-supracleithrum serrate; abdominal keel scales with spiny ventral surfaces; supra-anal photophore group usually not distinctly separated anal group. Post-temporal spine with two distinct basal spines; anal-subcaudal photophore distance less than one-third the length of the subcaudal group; anal photophore number 10 to 13. Anal photophore number 12 to 13; SL greater than four times body depth at anal of dorsal; caudal peduncle narrow, head length greater than three times narrowest peduncle depth.
Restricted to the western Pacific, taken abundantly around the Philippines, off the south China coast, off Japan, in waters north of the Strait of Malacca, and in the Great Australian Bight.
Baird RC. 1971. The Systematics, Distribution, and Zoogeography of the Marine Hatchetfishes (family Sternoptychidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zooology 142(1):1–128.
Baird RC. 1971. The Systematics, Distribution, and Zoogeography of the Marine Hatchetfishes (family Sternoptychidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zooology 142(1):1–128.
To around 60 mm SL.
Great Australian Bight, southern Australia, depth 640-825 meters.
Lectotype: AMS E.3543.
Polyipnus tridentifer, commonly known as the three-spined hatchetfish, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Sternoptychidae. It occurs in deep water in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, at depths between about 640 and 825 metres (2,100 and 2,700 ft).[2]
Media related to Polyipnus tridentifer at Wikimedia CommonsPolyipnus tridentifer, commonly known as the three-spined hatchetfish, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Sternoptychidae. It occurs in deep water in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, at depths between about 640 and 825 metres (2,100 and 2,700 ft).
