Hammerjaw
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Aulopiformes Family: Omosudidae Genus: Omosudis Species: O. lowii
Binomial name
Omosudis lowii Günther, 1887

The hammerjaw or omosudid, Omosudis lowii, is a small deep-sea aulopiform fish, found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) depth. It is the only representative of its family, Omosudidae (from the Greek omo, "shoulder", and Latin sudis, either "esox, fish of the Rhine" or "stake"). For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders See text The Actinopterygii are the ray-finned fish. ... Families Suborder Enchodontoidei   Dercetidae (extinct)   Cimolichthyidae (extinct)   Prionolepididae (extinct)   Enchodontidae (extinct)   Eurypholidae (extinct)   Halecidae (extinct)   Apateopholidae (extinct)   Ichthyotringidae (extinct) Suborder Giganturoidei   Giganturidae (telescopefishes) Suborder Aulopoidei   Aulopodidae (aulopus) Suborder Chlorophthalmoidei   Chlorophthalmidae (greeneyes)   Ipnopidae   Scopelarchidae (pearleyes)   Notosudidae (waryfishes) Suborder Alepisauroidei   Synodontidae (lizardfishes)   Pseudotrichonotidae   Paralepididae (barracudinas)   Anotopteridae (daggertooth)   Evermannelidae (sabertooth fishes)   Omosudidae   Alepisauridae... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Albrecht Carl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Deep sea fish is a term for fish that live below the photic zone of the ocean. ... Families Suborder Enchodontoidei   Dercetidae (extinct)   Cimolichthyidae (extinct)   Prionolepididae (extinct)   Enchodontidae (extinct)   Eurypholidae (extinct)   Halecidae (extinct)   Apateopholidae (extinct)   Ichthyotringidae (extinct) Suborder Giganturoidei   Giganturidae (telescopefishes) Suborder Aulopoidei   Aulopodidae (aulopus) Suborder Chlorophthalmoidei   Chlorophthalmidae (greeneyes)   Ipnopidae   Scopelarchidae (pearleyes)   Notosudidae (waryfishes) Suborder Alepisauroidei   Synodontidae (lizardfishes)   Pseudotrichonotidae   Paralepididae (barracudinas)   Anotopteridae (daggertooth)   Evermannelidae (sabertooth fishes)   Omosudidae   Alepisauridae... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically cold-blooded; covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is 1) a rank or 2) a taxon in that rank. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Loreley At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (Dutch Rijn, French Rhin, German Rhein, Italian: Reno, Romansch: Rein, ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ...

Physical description

The large head is dominated by a massive, truncated lower jaw and large, high-set eyes. The lower jaw possesses at least one pair of oversized, transparent, and daggerlike teeth; the palatines possess 1–4 pairs of slightly smaller teeth. The body itself is scaleless and laterally compressed; it is covered in iridescent, silvery-bronze guanine with the dark peritoneum peaking through in places. Brownish dorsally, the body tapers strongly towards a thin caudal peduncle (which has a dermal keel) and deeply forked caudal fin. All fins are spineless; both the low-slung pectoral fins (with 11–16 soft rays) and abdominal pelvic fins (with 8 soft rays) are fairly small. Human jaw front view Human jaw left view Human jaw top view The jaw is either of the two opposable structures forming, or near the entrance to, the mouth. ... A human eye. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... See Palatine Hill for geography of Rome. ... In most biological nomenclature, a scale (Greek lepid, Latin squama) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animals skin to provide protection. ... The iridescence of the Blue Morpho butterfly wings. ... Guanine is one of the five main nucleobases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA; the others being adenine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. ... In higher vertebrates, the peritoneum is the serous membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity - it covers most of the intra-abdominal organs. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Raised thorns on the stem of the wait-a-bit climber Thorns on rose stems A spine is a rigid, pointed surface protuberance or needle-like structure on an animal, shell, or plant, presumably serving as a defense against attack by predators. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ...

The single dorsal fin (with 9–12 soft rays) and anal fin (14–16 soft rays) are roughly equal in size; the anal fin's origin lies immediately posterior to the dorsal. The lateral line is uninterrupted and the gill rakers number 20–25. Like other members of their order, hammerjaws also possess a small adipose fin. The largest recorded hammerjaw measured 23 cm (9 inches) standard length (excluding the caudal fin). Dorsal Fin of the Orca A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of fishes, whales, dolphins and porpoises. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... In fish, the lateral line is a sense organ used to detect movement in the surrounding water. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ... Scientific classification or biological classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Fish anatomy is primarily governed by the physical characteristics of water, which is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs light more than does air. ...

Life history

Very little is known of the hammerjaw's life history. It inhabits the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones down to 4,000 m and is never caught in large numbers. It is inferred from their sporadic capture and sleek morphology that hammerjaws are swift swimmers—capable of avoiding sampling nets. Hammerjaws appear to spawn year-round; like many other deep-sea aulopiform fish, they are hermaphrodites. They are carnivorous and feed on squid and other pelagic fish; in turn, hammerjaws are known prey of lancetfish and tuna. Diagram of the layers of the pelagic zone. ... Look up spawn in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The 1st-century BC sculpture The Reclining Hermaphrodite, in the Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme in Rome In zoology and botany, a hermaphrodite (aka David Harrop, Carlisle, Cumbria) is an organism that possesses both male and female sex organs during its life[1]. In many species, hermaphroditism is... This tigers sharp teeth and strong jaws are the classical physical traits expected from carnivorous mammalian predators A carnivore (IPA: ), meaning meat eater (Latin carne meaning flesh and vorare meaning to devour), is an animal that eats a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from live animals... SQUIDs, or Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices, are used to measure extremely small magnetic fields; they are currently the most sensitive such devices (magnetometers) known, with noise levels as low as 3 fT·Hz−½. While a typical fridge magnet is ~0. ... Species Alepisaurus ferox Lowe, 1833 Alepisaurus brevirostris Gibbs, 1960 Lancetfish (genus Alepisaurus Lowe, 1833) (Lat. ... Species See text. ...

References

• Omosudis lowii (TSN 644694). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 11 March 2006.
• "Omosudidae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
• "Omosudis lowii". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
• McGrouther, M. (2004). Hammerjaw, Omosudis lowei, Australian Museum Online, October 2005 version