Alepocephalidae 

Smooth-heads, Slickheads

The family Alepocephalidae are a deep water fish, generally found below 1000 m in both the benthic and pelagic zones.  About 18 of the 20 genera of this family are found within the study area.  They can be locally abundant in both species and numbers (Whitehead et al., 1989).  

The family is composed of small to medium sized fishes ranging up to lengths of about 1 m.  Body shape differs significantly within the family from compressed and eel like to moderately deep.  The head and eyes are generally large.  The dorsal fin is quite far back on the body and the caudal fin is forked.  Some species have light organs on their bodies (Whitehead et al., 1989).

The family Alepocephalidae were recorded from the Theresa Mounds in the NE Seabight, during the Caracole cruise of August 2001.

There is more information available for this family on FishBase.

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