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Dorsal-fin rays 10–11; anal-fin rays 14–16; pectoral-fin rays10–11; total gill rakers 7–9; vertebrae 29. Largest species in genus, often exceeds 55 mm SL; trunk broad, its depth greater than length; dorsal spine long, its length about equal to, or less than, length of dorsal fin; posterior anal pterygiophores long, extend behind and at same level as anal photophores; supra-anal photophore very high, its height more than one-half the distance from ventral body margin to midline (often raised to midline); no body margin extension in front of anal photophores; jaws large; teeth well developed and recurved; gill-raker tooth plates with long spines; usually one longer than others; anterior dorsal surface of tongue with small nodules; postabdominal and anal pterygiophore spines long; in preservative, pigment dark over most of body except lighter in trunk region; if present, pigment band very narrow at base of caudal rays.
Differs from S. obscura in its longer dorsal spine and longer dorsal fin; shorter, wider trunk, absence of a broad pigment band on base of caudal rays, and generally lighter pigment; differs from S. diaphana by its larger mouth, longer teeth and gill-raker tooth plate spines; markedly higher supra-anal photophore; extension of long anal pterygiophores behind and at same level with anal photophores.
This species occurs in the South Atlantic off Brazil, and in the Gulf of Guinea off Africa with widely scattered occurrences in the tropical Atlantic; it is abundant in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the straits of Florida; scattered catches indicate its presence in the southern Caribbean; it has not been reported from the western North Atlantic, but occurs in numbers off the northwest coast of Africa and near the Azores; small catches indicate its presence in the southwestern Indian Ocean from 5°S to 40°S latitude; isolated small to moderate catches south of Java, near the Marshall Islands, in the North Pacific, off California, and in the southeast Pacific indicate a broad range in the Pacific which future collecting should better define.
The deepest-living species in the genus; data indicate a depth distribution from 500 m to 1500 m; greatest concentrations recorded occur between 800 m and 1500 m; overall small rates of captures plus relatively few deep stations may be indicative of a depth preference below 1000 m; no diurnal movement is indicated.
Baird RC. 1971. The Systematics, Distribution, and Zoogeography of the Marine Hatchetfishes (family Sternoptychidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zooology 142(1):1–128.
Baird RC. 1971. The Systematics, Distribution, and Zoogeography of the Marine Hatchetfishes (family Sternoptychidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zooology 142(1):1–128.
Often exceed 55 mm SL.
Western Atlantic, 1°20'S, 27°37'W to 1°26'S, 27°33'W.
Holotype: MCZ 46400.
