Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Lophiiformes
(Anglerfishes) > Oneirodidae
Etymology: Dolopichthys: Greek, 'dolops' or 'dolopos' = ambusher + Greek, 'ichthys' = fish (meaning "a fish that attacks by surprise") (Ref. 86949).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 1375 - 2200 m (Ref. 86949). Deep-water
Tropical and temperate parts of all oceans.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 15.9 cm (female)
Morphology | Morphometrics
soft rays: 4 - 6. Characterized by having escal morphology: escal bulb with small rounded, anteriorly to anteroventrally directed papilla on anterior midline and slightly larger dorsally to anterodorsally directed papilla on dorsal midline; simple and unpigmented papillae in specimens less than 98 mm, bifurcated papillae, forming shallow medial area that is darkly pigmented in specimens 98mm and larger; most specimens with 2 small unpigmented papillae placed bilaterally on dorsal surface of escal bulb near base of posterior escal appendage; compressed posterior appendage crescent shaped and approximately as long as escal bulb; darkly pigmented swollen basal part of posterior appendage in specimens 98mm and larger; presence of filaments on posterior appendage, pigmented in 159-mm specimens; teeth in lower jaw 31-286; teeth on vomer 4-10 (Ref. 86949).
Mesopelagic (Ref. 10524) and bathypelagic (Ref. 58302).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Bertelsen, E., 1990. Oneirodidae. p. 498-507. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post, and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. (Ref. 10524)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 120744)
CITES (Ref. 115941)
Threat to humans
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningSpawning aggregationFecundityEggsEgg development
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969
): 2 - 4.5, mean 3.5 (based on 627 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5078 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), in cm Total Length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.6 ±0.6 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (21 of 100) .