brownsnout spookfish
Dolichopteryx longipes (Vaillant, 1888)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The brownsnout spookfish or brown-snout spookfish (Dolichopteryx longipes) is a species of barreleye in the family Opisthoproctidae. It and the glasshead barreleye fish are the only vertebrates known to employ a mirror, in addition to a lens, to focus an image in its eyes. This species probably has a worldwide tropical and temperate distribution; in the Atlantic Ocean it is known from Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Pacific Ocean it is known from the California Current region and the South China Sea. It is found in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones at a depth of 500–2,400 meters (1,600–7,900 ft), but usually occurs below 1,000 meters (3,300 feet). In the Gulf of Mexico it is found shallower, at 310–460 meters (1,020–1,510 ft).
Wikipedia contributors, Brownsnout spookfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:46:42.983176+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dolichopteryx longipes (Vaillant, 1888)
- Name authority
- (Vaillant, 1888)
- Common name
- brownsnout spookfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Argentiniformes
- Family
- Opisthoproctidae
- Genus
- Dolichopteryx
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderArgentiniformes
- familyOpisthoproctidae Schmidt, 1918
- genusDolichopteryx Brauer, 1901
- speciesDolichopteryx longipes (Vaillant, 1888)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dolichopteryx. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Dolichopteryx anascopa Brauer, 1901 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Winged spookfishDolichopteryx parini Kobyliansky & Fedorov, 2001 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dolichopteryx pseudolongipes Fukui, Kitagawa & Parin, 2008 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dolichopteryx nigripes Prokofiev, 2020 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dolichopteryx iustus Schwarzhans, 2019 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Dolichopteryx andriashevi Parin, Belyanina & Evseenko, 2009 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dolichopteryx rostrata Fukui & Kitagawa, 2006 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dolichopteryx trunovi Parin, 2005 | OpisthoproctidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Aulostoma longipes Vaillant, 1888 Vaillant, 1888 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126731 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3766N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.