Nansenia oblita, also called the forgotten argentine (from the specific name oblita, "forgotten") or the Mediterranean large-eyed argentine, is a species of fish in the pencil smelt family (Microstomatidae).[2][3][4]
Nansenia oblita is silvery in colour. Its length is maximum 18 cm (7.1 in). It has 10 or 11 dorsal soft rays, 9 or 10 anal soft rays, 28–30 gill rakers, 42–45 vertebrae, and 4 branchiostegal rays.[5] The proximal part of the adipose fin is unpigmented and its entire body is covered with guanine.[6] The base of the caudal and procurrent caudal-fin rays are pigmented.[7]
Nansenia oblita is pelagic, living in the northwest and eastern Atlantic Ocean, western Mediterranean Sea and Adriatic Sea at depths of 300–500 m (980–1,640 ft). It is commonly found off Messina, Sicily.[8]
It spawns during winter in the Mediterranean, perhaps later in the Atlantic.[5] It lays spherical eggs of about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) diameter.[9] It feeds on zooplankton.[2]
Nansenia oblita, also called the forgotten argentine (from the specific name oblita, "forgotten") or the Mediterranean large-eyed argentine, is a species of fish in the pencil smelt family (Microstomatidae).
