Rouleina attrita


Rouleina attrita, the softskin smooth-head or softskin slickhead, is a species of fish in the family Alepocephalidae.
Its specific name is from the Latin attrīta, presumably referring to the mutilated or decomposed state of the type specimens.

Description

Rouleina attrita is black, measuring up to. Its upper jaw reaches to behind the eye, and it has a lateral line of 43–48 photophores. It has 43–46 vertebrae. Its scales are deciduous and its skin contains small fluid-filled compartments. Its eyes contain convexiclivate temporal foveae containing densely packed ganglia.

Habitat

Rouleina attrita is engybenthic or bathypelagic, meaning that it swims near the seafloor, living at depths of. It has been recorded in all non-polar seas.

Behaviour

Its testes are ribbon-like, in convoluted folds but never in discrete lobes. Its eggs are large, up to in diameter.