Demersal fish
Last updated
Biology and range
Most demersal fish are benthopelagic, having neutral buoyancy to float at depth without much effort.[2][3] Fish that are strictly benthic have a higher density than water and are negatively buoyant, which enables them to remain on the sea floor without effort.[2][4] Ambush predators among benthic fish often employ a lie-and-wait strategy, sometimes burying themselves in sand or using camouflage.[4] During metamorphosis from the larval stage, one eye of a flatfish moves to the opposite side of its body.[5]
To find buried stingrays, the great hammerhead shark sweeps its head across the sea floor, detecting their electrical signals.[6] All deep sea benthopelagic teleosts possess swimbladders; rattails and cusk eels are the dominant species in terms of biomass.[7] Invertebrates from the deep sea benthos and carrion constitute the primary food source for deep sea demersal fish.[4]
What the specialist sources record
The 1978 study by Sedberry and Musick examined stomach contents of 729 fishes from the continental slope and rise off the Middle Atlantic States.[8] That study identified two main feeding modes: fish feeding primarily on pelagic food items and those feeding on benthic invertebrates.[8] The mesopelagic fauna is an important food source for some demersal fishes on the continental slope, according to Sedberry and Musick.[8] A UK-Japan team filmed a shoal of 17 hadal snailfish at depths of 7.7 km in the Japan Trench in 2008.[9]
In 1970, a specimen of Abyssobrotula galatheae, recognized as the deepest-living fish, was collected by trawl from the Puerto Rico Trench at a depth of 8,370 metres.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walrond C Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor" Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009; Walrond C Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor" Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bone 2008, p. 42.; Walrond C Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor" Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mauchline J and Gordon JDM (1986) "Foraging strategies of deep-sea fish"] Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 27: 227-238. Download; Walrond C Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor" Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moyle and Cech, 2004, p. 588 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fairchild, E.A. and Howell, W.H, "Factors affecting the post-release survival of cultured juvenile Pseudopleuronectes americanus", Journal of Fish Biology, 2004, p. 69–87 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hammerschlag, Rick. Sandy Plains: Great Hammerhead Shark. ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research. Retrieved: 6 June 2022. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bone 2008, p. 43. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Sedberry GR and Musick JA (1978) "Feeding strategies of some demersal fishes of the continental slope and rise off the mid-Atlantic coast of the USA" Marine Bio. facts only, no text reused. doi.org
- 'Deepest ever' living fish filmed BBC News, 7 October 2008.. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "Demersal fish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nielsen JG (1977) "The deepest living fish Abyssobrotula galatheae: a new genus and species of oviparous ophidioids (Pisces, Brotulidae)". Galathea Report, 14: ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Demersal fish (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Fish And Marine Life
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Demersal fish (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced