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| Spiny-back eel | ||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Notacanthus sexspinis Richardson, 1846 |
The spiny-back eel, Notacanthus sexspinis, is a deep-sea spiny eel of the genus Notacanthus, found in all the southern hemisphere oceans, in depths between 500 and 1,000 m. Their length is up to 60 cm.
The spiny-back eel is a deep-bodied scaleless eel-like fish with a blunt rounded snout overhanging a small mouth. The dorsal fin has been reduced to 6 or 7 short sharp spines widely separated on the back but the anal fin is long, extending from midway along the body to the tip of the tail.
These fish are a pallid off-white colour faintly tinged with pink, and are black inside the mouth and lips.
References
- Notacanthus sexspinis (TSN 635465). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 19 March 2006.
- "Notacanthus sexspinis". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
