Luminous hake

The luminous hake, Steindachneria argentea, is a gadiform fish of the western Atlantic and the only living member of both its genus and its family, Steindachneriidae. It was formerly placed among the Merlucciidae. The fish reaches about 30 centimetres in total length and has a silvery body with slight brown shading on the back, a purple tint underneath, a dark mouth cavity, a large head with big eyes and a body that tapers to a point because there is no tail fin. Its name comes from a striated light organ along the sides of the head and the lower half of the body. It is common in deep water, but is also found on the outer shelf and on soft muddy bottoms, from Florida and the northern Gulf of Mexico through Central America to Venezuela, at depths of roughly 400 to 500 metres. Fisheries take no interest in it, and the hake Merluccius albidus preys on it. Fossil otoliths show that related species lived in the Miocene of Chile and Washington, and a fossil skeleton of a close relative comes from the Oligocene of Poland.