Warming's lantern fish
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Ceratoscopelus warmingii (Warming's lantern fish).gif
| image_caption =
| taxon = Ceratoscopelus warmingii
| authority = (Lütken, 1892)
}}
Warming's lantern fish, Ceratoscopelus warmingii, is a lanternfish of the family Myctophidae, found circumglobally in both hemispheres, at depths of between {{convert|700|and|1500|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} during the day and between {{convert|20|and|200|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} at night. Its length is about {{convert|8|cm|in|2|abbr=on}}.
Description
Warming's lantern fish grows to a length of about {{convert|8|cm|in|2|abbr=on}}. The rounded dorsal fin has 13 to 15 soft rays and the anal fin has a similar number of soft rays.{{cite web |url=http://www.fishbase.org/summary/6981 |title=Ceratoscopelus warmingii (Lütken, 1892): Warming's lantern fish |publisher=FishBase |access-date=25 January 2018}} The body has patches and scale-like specks of bioluminescent material.{{cite book|author1=Smith, Margaret M. |author2=Heemstra, Phillip C. |title=Smiths' Sea Fishes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FnTpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA287 |year=2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-82858-4 |page=287}}
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 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. During the day it occurs between {{convert|700|and|1500|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}, in the ocean's mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones, rising during the night to feed in the epipelagic zone between {{convert|20|and|200|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}, most commonly in the {{convert|50|to|100|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} depth range.
Ecology
The diet is mostly zooplankton, but in the North Pacific Gyre, 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.{{cite book|author=Priede, Imants G.|title=Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAAtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 |year=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-08382-0 |page=108}}
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
{{Commons category|Ceratoscopelus warmingii}}
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