Skip to main content

Stoplight Loosejaw

Malacosteus niger
Stoplight Loosejaw is the common name for the two species found within the genus Malacosteus. They are a relatively deep-sea dwelling fish, living between 500 and 1,000m down.

The "Stoplight" name derives from the fact that they can produce two different lights from photophores near their eyes. One of these lights is blueish-green, while the other is red. The red light is especially interesting-- most of the other organisms near them cannot see the red light, which lets the Loosejaw hunt secretly and stealthily. (The blue light penetrates further in the water, but can be seen by others).

The "Loosejaw" name is a reference to their interested head. They have a very minimal connection between their head and neck, and can tilt their heads back at normally unnatural angles in order to thrust their long, lower jaws even further forward. These lower jaws have very sharp, pointed teeth that impale prey, after locating it and swiftly darting forward in attack.

Like many deep sea fish, we don't know much about the specific behaviors of the Stoplight Loosejaw. In fact, most of what we know about them comes from dead specimens. Next to nothing is known about their reproduction, but there is some speculation that the lights play a part in courtship.
IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Oceans Worldwide
Size : Length around 25cm
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Stomiiformes
Family : Stomiidae -- Genus : Malacosteus

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2013 at 9:57 PM

    Thank you for making this page! It was very useful in a research project that I'm doing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...
37 comments
Read more