Mediterranean grenadier


The Mediterranean grenadier is a species of deep-sea fish in the family Macrouridae.

Description

The Mediterranean grenadier has a measurement of up to. The head is scaled except for its gular and branchiostegal membranes; it has a blunt snout. Its brain shows increased volume in the octavolateral area and gustatory area ; this is unsurprising as it lives in near-total darkness and is dependent on chemosensory inputs to find prey.

Habitat

The Mediterranean grenadier lives in the North Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Gulf of Mexico; it is bathydemersal, living at depths of. During 2008–2011 baited cameras were deployed over a depth range of 532–5111 m in the Ionian Sea to characterize the large mobile fauna. At depths greater than 3000 m, including Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean, the Mediterranean grenadier was observed, the only one fish species found, extending this species' maximum recorded depth to 5111 m.

Behaviour

The Mediterranean grenadier feeds on small benthic invertebrates. They exhibit a cycle of daily activity, because the solar cycle influences the movement of pelagic prey who move vertically during the day. They are parasitised by many species of cestode worms.