Stomias boa | |
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Preserved Specimen | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Stomiiformes |
Family: | Stomiidae |
Genus: | Stomias |
Species: | S. boa
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Binomial name | |
Stomias boa (Risso, 1810)
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Synonyms[2] | |
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Stomias boa, also known as the boa dragonfish, scaly dragonfish, dragon-boa or boa scaly dragonfish, is a species of deep-sea fish in the family Stomiidae.[4][5][6][3][7]
Three subspecies were previously recognised:
These and two others have been elevated to species.[8]
Stomias boa has an elongated body and small head;[9] it is up to 32.2 cm (1.06 ft) in length, black underneath and iridescent silver on its flanks, with a barbel that has a pale stem, dark spot at base of bulb and three blackish filaments.[10][11] It has six rows of hexagonal areas above a lateral series of large photophores.[12] The dorsal and anal fins are opposite each other, just anterior to the caudal fin.[13]
Stomias boa is mesopelagic and bathypelagic, living at depths of 200–2,173 m (656–7,129 ft) in seas worldwide, particularly off the Atlantic coast of North America, in the Mediterranean and in a band 20°–45° S.[14][15][16] S. boa ferox is concentrated in the North Atlantic.[17] S. boa colubrinus is most common off the Congo coast and the northwest coast of South America.[18][19]
Stomias boa eats midwater fishes and crustaceans; it rises to near the surface to feed at night.[11]
Stomias boa is oviparous; its larvae are 9–44 mm (0.35–1.73 in) in length.[20]