Viperfish
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Viperfishes are deepwater fishes of the genus Chauliodus. They grow to lengths of 30 to 60 centimetres.
Like other stomiiform fishes, viperfishes use bioluminescent organs (photophores) to find and catch prey at depths where sunlight does not penetrate. They have very sharp curved teeth to catch their prey.
Species
There are nine species:- Chauliodus barbatus (Lowe, 1843).
- Dana viperfish, Chauliodus danae Regan & Trewavas, 1929.
- Chauliodus dentatus Garman, 1899.
- Pacific viperfish, Chauliodus macouni Bean, 1890.
- Chauliodus minimus Parin & Novikova, 1974.
- Chauliodus pammelas Alcock, 1892.
- Chauliodus schmidti (Regan & Trewavas, 1929).
- Sloane's viperfish, Chauliodus sloani Bloch & Schneider, 1801.
Sloane's viperfish, Chauliodus sloani
- Chauliodus vasnetzovi Novikova, 1972.
Trivia
Roger C. Dunham described a fictional submarine named "USS Viperfish (SSN-655)" in his book Spy Sub. The book actually describes the actions of USS Halibut (SSGN-587).A dried, shriveled viperfish is seen on the cover of Mr. Bungle's 1995 album Disco Volante.
References
- ["Chauliodus"]. FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
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