Teleostei (teleosts) >
Lophiiformes (Anglerfishes) >
Gigantactinidae (Whipnose anglers)
Etymology: Gigantactis: Greek, 'gigas' or 'gigantos' = gigantic + Greek, 'aktis' = ray (referring to the unusually long first dorsal-fin spine that functions as a lure in this genus) (Ref. 86949).
Eponymy: Robert Henry Gibbs Jr. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; bathypelagic; depth range 465 - 1640 m (Ref. 86949). Deep-water
Atlantic Ocean: a single record is known from the Gulf of Guinea and another record is known from the northwest Atlantic.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 5.0 cm (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal soft rays (total): 6; Anal soft rays: 6. Metamorphosed females distinguished by the following characteristics: length of illicium less than 120% SL (104-118% SL); escal bulb with short conical, spinulose, darkly pigmented distal prolongation slightly constricted at base; escal bulb with distally flattened papillae and short distal and slender proximal filaments; illicium without posterior pair of papillae; dentary teeth in posterior part of jaw in three longitudinal series; length of rays of caudal fin less than 50% SL (Ref. 86949).
Mesopelagic species (Ref. 10761).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Bertelsen, E., 1990. Gigantactinidae. p. 513-515. 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. 10761)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804) |
PD50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high]. |
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Bayesian length-weight
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a=0.01995 (0.00906 - 0.04395), b=3.01 (2.83 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245). |
Trophic level (Ref. 69278) |
4.1 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives |
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153) |
Low vulnerability (19 of 100). 🛈 |