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Blueband Whiptail Coelorinchus matamua (McCann & McKnight, 1980)
[CAAB 37 232017]

Distribution Map see an interactive map here (new window)

Distribution, ecology and habitat:

Circumglobal in temperate waters off Australia, New Zealand, southern Africa and southern tip of South America; benthopelagic on continental slope at 450-1000 m.

Size:

To 65 cm TL.

Food and feeding:

Carnivorous on fishes (myctophids) and invertebrates such ad decapod crustaceans.

Reproduction and early life history:

Characteristics:

D II, 8-10; P 16-19; V 7; GR 11-13; PC 18-34
Head and body deep, compressed, head large, ridges well-defined, eye large, longer than snout and postorbital length; snout short, bluntly pointed, tipped with small tubercle, anterolateral margin incompletely supported by bone, area dorsally behind leading edge scaled; suborbital region almost vertical, head scaled, including most of nasal fossa; mouth large, upper jaw longer than snout, jaw teeth small in tapering bands, outer row on premaxilla slightly enlarged. Dorsal fins well separated, second spinous ray of first dorsal fin not prolonged.Body scales large, with 8-11 or more slightly divergent rows of small spinules. Light organ small, indistinct globular gland adjacent to anus, not externally visible.

Colour:

Head dark, trunk encircled by prominent dark violet to bluish band, tail pale to dusky; fins mostly black, posterior half to two-thirds of anal fin pale to dusky; mouth and gill cavities pale, lips and gill membranes black.

Similar species:

Fisheries:

Of minor commercial importance, frequently taken as bycatch in by trawlers fishing in deepwater off Tasmania; also abundant in continental slope waters off southern Africa.

Conservation Status:

Remarks:

Other common names:

Blue Banded Whiptail, Large-Headed Whiptail, Mahia Rattail, Mahia Whiptail.

Original citation:

Mahia matamua McCann & McKnight, 1980, Mem. N.Z. Oceanogr. Inst. 61: 53, figs. 36-38, off Gisborne, New Zealand.

Etymology:

References:

McCann, C. & McKnight, D.G. 1980. The marine fauna of New Zealand: macrourid fishes. (Pisces : Gadida). Mem. N.Z. Oceanogr. Inst. 61: 1-91, figs. 1-69.

Iwamoto, T. & Graham, K.J. 2001. Grenadiers (Families Bathygadidae and Macrouridae, Gadiformes, Pisces) of New South Wales, Australia. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 52(21): 407-509, figs. 1-114.

Iwamoto, T. & Williams, A. 1999. Grenadiers (Pisces, Gadiformes) from the continental slope of western and northwestern Australia. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 51(3): 105-243, figs. 1-58.