ORDER
Phragmphora
FAMILY
Eukrohniidae
TAXONOMY
Eukrohnia fowleri Ritter-Zahony, 1909, southern Indian Ocean.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Individuals have 8–14 hooks and 2–31 posterior teeth. There are no anterior teeth. Maximum adult body length is 1.57 in (40 mm), and the relative tail length is 22–27% of total body size. The body is firm, broad, and opaque. Transversal muscles are present in the anterior part of the trunk. The neck is narrower than the region at the septum between trunk and tail segment. Pair of long, lateral fins are located on both the trunk and tail and are partially rayed. This species does not have a collarette, nor does it have gut diverticula. The head is small, with big oval eyes that have diamond-shaped pigment spots. Seminal vesicles are oval and rounded and do not touch the tail fin or the lateral fins. Ovaries are short and broad, and the ova are large.
DISTRIBUTION
Deep-mesopelagic, occurring between 1,640 and 4,920 ft (500–1,500 m). Circumglobal, from 70°N to 70°S in all three oceans.
HABITAT
Oceanic species that lives in the pelagic realm in all oceans except the Arctic and Antarctic.
BEHAVIOR
Nothing is known.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Prefers small copepods.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Reproduction is not seasonally determined. Growth and reproduction are very slow, and the fertilized eggs are brooded in a sac that hangs out of the ovaries.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
