Hoplostethus metallicus Fowler, 1938
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 metallic roughy (Hoplostethus metallicus) is a slimehead of the order Trachichthyiformes. It is native to the Western Central Pacific along the eastern seaboard of Negros Island in the Philippines and other locations in the Sulu Sea. It has a deep-water range of 55–550 m (180–1,800 ft). The species is unique within its genus for having a tubular light organ on either side of the belly. It is known from only 25 collected specimens, but members of this genus are known to frequently be "locally abundant," occurring in dense schools over seamounts.
Wikipedia contributors, Metallic roughy; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:50:01.902625+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hoplostethus metallicus Fowler, 1938
- Name authority
- Fowler, 1938
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Trachichthyiformes
- Family
- Trachichthyidae
- Genus
- Hoplostethus
- 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
- orderTrachichthyiformes
- familyTrachichthyidae Bleeker, 1856
- genusHoplostethus Cuvier, 1829
- speciesHoplostethus metallicus Fowler, 1938
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hoplostethus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| deep sea perchHoplostethus atlanticus Collett, 1889 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus confinis Kotlyar, 1980 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Thickspine roughyHoplostethus crassispinus Kotlyar, 1980 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus druzhinini Kotlyar, 1986 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus fedorovi Kotlyar, 1986 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus gigas McCulloch, 1914 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus grandperrini Roberts & Gomon, 2012 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus latus McCulloch, 1914 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus melanopterus Fowler, 1938 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus melanopus (Weber, 1913) | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Atlantic roughyHoplostethus occidentalis Woods, 1973 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hoplostethus rifti Kotlyar, 1986 | TrachichthyidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- Fowler, H. W. (1938). Descriptions of new fishes obtained by the United States Bureau of Fisheries steamer “Albatross”, chiefly in Philippine seas and adjacent waters. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 85 (3032): 31–135. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.85-3032.31 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:3MN7Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.