Long snouted lancetfish
Alepisaurus ferox Lowe, 1833
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.
Alepisaurus ferox
Allen Shimada, NOAA NMFS OST · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Alepisaurus ferox, also known as the long snouted lancetfish, longnose lancetfish, or cannibal fish, is a species of lancetfish found in the ocean depths down to 1,830 m (6,000 ft). This species grows to 215 cm (85 in) in total length and a weight of 9 kg (20 lb).
The appellation cannibal fish stems from discoveries of partially-digested conspecifics in captured specimens.
Wikipedia contributors, Alepisaurus ferox; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:40:15.686333+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Alepisaurus ferox Lowe, 1833
- Name authority
- Lowe, 1833
- Common name
- Long snouted lancetfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Aulopiformes
- Family
- Alepisauridae
- Genus
- Alepisaurus
- 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
- orderAulopiformes
- suborderAlepisauroidei
- familyAlepisauridae Swainson, 1839
- genusAlepisaurus Lowe, 1833
- speciesAlepisaurus ferox Lowe, 1833
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Alepisaurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| shortnose lancetfishAlepisaurus brevirostris Gibbs, 1960 | AlepisauridaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Plagyodus aesculapius (Bean, 1883) (Bean, 1883) | synonym |
| Alepidosaurus aesculapius Bean, 1883 Bean, 1883 | synonym |
| Alepidosaurus borealis Gill, 1862 Gill, 1862 | synonym |
| Alepisaurus borealis Gill, 1862 Gill, 1862 | synonym |
| Plagyodus borealis (Gill, 1862) (Gill, 1862) | synonym |
| Alepidosaurus poeyi Gill, 1863 Gill, 1863 | synonym |
| Alepidosaurus serra Gill, 1862 Gill, 1862 | synonym |
| Alepisaurus altivelis Poey, 1860 Poey, 1860 | synonym |
| Alepisaurus azureus Valenciennes, 1850 Valenciennes, 1850 | synonym |
| Alepisaurus richardsonii Bleeker, 1855 Bleeker, 1855 | synonym |
| Plagyodus ferox (Lowe, 1833) (Lowe, 1833) | 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.
- Lowe, R. T. (1833). Description of Alepisaurus, a new genus of fishes. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., (pt 1): 104. 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.
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:BP4F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.