Face-Down, Tail-Up: Unusual In Situ Behavior of the Blackchins Neoscopelus macrolepidotus, Neoscopelus microchir, and Scopelengys tristis (Myctophiformes: Neoscopelidae)

Bergman, Leah A.; Fujiwara, Yoshihiro; Assad, Victoria E.; Perelman, Jessica N.; Drazen, Jeffrey C.; Lindsay, Dhugal J.

doi:10.3390/d15070837

i

Face-Down, Tail-Up: Unusual In Situ Behavior of the Blackchins Neoscopelus macrolepidotus, Neoscopelus microchir, and Scopelengys tristis (Myctophiformes: Neoscopelidae)

2023
By Bergman, Leah A. ; Fujiwara, Yoshihiro ; Assad, Victoria E. ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Diversity
Personal Author:

Bergman, Leah A. ; Fujiwara, Yoshihiro ; Assad, Victoria E. ; Perelman, Jessica N. ; Drazen, Jeffrey C. ; Lindsay, Dhugal J.
NOAA Program & Office:

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; CIMAR (Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research) ; PIFSC (Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center)
Description:

Orienting vertically with the head facing upward allows fish to look for the shadow of their prey against ambient light, while also making their own shadow smaller to predators beneath them. Here, we describe the in situ behavior of three midwater fish in the family Neoscopelidae, Neoscopelus macrolepidotus, Neoscopelus microchir, and Scopelengys tristis, all of which were observed facing vertically with the head downward. This behavior allows the fish to diminish its shadow to hide from predators while hunting prey below. Assessing unique behaviors helps us better understand the role of these and other poorly studied deep-sea fishes.
Keywords:

Agricultural And Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) Ecological Modeling Ecology Nature And Landscape Conservation Agricultural And Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) Nature And Landscape Conservation Agricultural And Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) Nature And Landscape Conservation
Source:

Diversity, 15(7), 837
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3390/d15070837
ISSN:

1424-2818
Publisher:

MDPI AG
Document Type:

Journal Article
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY
Compliance:

Library
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:42e6f4ebf4ea4c517087566debfaaeddff53213a78484deab94bc0cb954e4051
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/58841/noaa_58841_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 543.33 KB ]

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