Notacanthus sp. Bloch, 1788
Spiny eel
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The Notacanthus genus is small with six species known worldwide. Two of these can be found in the North East Atlantic. Notacanthus have been recorded in all oceans from polar to tropical latitudes. They are considered benthopelagic at depths between 125 and 2,500 m, although more commonly found at depths between 400 and 1000 m . At least one species is thought to be circumglobal, and another is distributed in the East Atlantic from the Faeroes and Ireland south to Cape Blanc (Whitehead et al., 1986a).
The Notacanthus body is anguilliform, compressed or cylindrical. Pelvic and anal fins have hard spines anteriorly, with the dorsal fin consisting of a series of short, hard, isolated spines extending posteriorly beyond the midpoint of body. Hence the common name of spiny eels. The mouth is inferior (Whitehead et al., 1986a).
During the present survey Notacanthus were recorded from the Porcupine areas and from the Darwin mounds. It is probable that the genus are more numerous on shrimp and other towed video footage than results indicate. This is partly due to the difficulty of identifying the eels solely from a dorsal perspective. As with the other eel genus recorded during the survey (Synaphobranchus kaupii), the Notacanthus all appeared to be disturbed by the presence of the camera.
Notacanthus species are not of commercial importance in the study area (Whitehead et al, 1986a).
There is more information available for the family Notacanthidae in FishBase.
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