Pseudocetonurus septifer

Pseudocetonurus septifer is a species of rattail, the only known species in the genus Pseudocetonurus. This fish is found at depths of up to 950 m (3,120 ft) in the waters around Hawaii and in the south-eastern Pacific. It has recently also been recorded on the other side of the Pacific, near Taiwan, and this species probably has a pan-Pacific distribution but has been underrecorded due to the depths in which it lives.

Pseudocetonurus septifer
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Gadiformes
Suborder:	Macrouroidei
Family:	Macrouridae
Genus:	Pseudocetonurus Sazonov & Shcherbachev, 1982
Species:	P. septifer
Binomial name
Pseudocetonurus septifer Sazonov & Shcherbachev, 1982

This species attains a length of up to 39 cm (15 in). It is unique among rattails in having 7 branchiostegal rays and a large gill opening. This is a generally very dark, sometimes black, fish with a very large head and small, widely spaced eyes. There is a small bioluminescent organ located between the pelvic fins.

References

• CHIOU Mei-Luen; SHAO Kwang-Tsao; IWAMOTO Tomio (2004). "A new species, Caelorinchus sheni, and 19 new records of grenadiers (Pisces: Gadiformes: Macrouridae) from Taiwan" (PDF). Zoological Studies. 43 (1): 35–50. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2005.