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Northern lampfish
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Myctophiformes
Family:	Myctophidae
Genus:	Stenobrachius
Species:	S. leucopsarus
Binomial name
Stenobrachius leucopsarus Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1890

The northern lampfish (Stenobrachius leucopsarus), also known as smallfin lanternfish, is a small oceanic fish in the family Myctophidae. First described by husband and wife ichthyologists Carl H. and Rosa Smith Eigenmann in 1890, it is named for the numerous small round photophores that line the ventral surface of its head and body.

A blunt-nosed, relatively large-mouthed fish with small teeth and large eyes, it is gray to dark greenish blue on its dorsal surface and paler ventrally, with black on its fins and operculum. Its large scales rub off easily. Adults can reach 13 centimetres (5 in) in length and live as long as 8 years.

Found in the Pacific Ocean from Japan and Baja California to the Bering Sea, it is the most common species of lanternfish in the northwestern Pacific, and one of the most abundant larval fish in the California Current. Like all lanternfish, this is a deep sea species; it spends the day in the ocean's deeper bathypelagic and mesopelagic zones and ascends to or near the ocean's surface during the night. It is a cool-water fish.

Like most fish, it is oviparous; It feeds on plankton, and is eaten by numerous predators, including fish such as salmon and tuna and birds such as the red-legged kittiwake.

References

1. Froese, R.; Pauly, D., eds. (2014). "Stenobrachius leucopsarus (Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1890) Northern lampfish". FishBase. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
2. ^ Froese, R.; Pauly, D., eds. (2014). "Common names of Stenobrachius leucopsarus". FishBase. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
3. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Herald, Olivia Walker; Mammann, Howard; Gnagy, John (1983). A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes: North America. New York, NY, US: Houghton Mifflin. p. 94. ISBN 0-395-26873-7.
4. ^ Beamish, Richard James, ed. (1995). Climate Change and Northern Fish Populations. Ottawa, ON, Canada: National Research Council of Canada. p. 170. ISBN 0-660-15780-2.
5. Dailey, Murray D.; Reish, Donald J.; Anderson, Jack W., eds. (1993). Ecology of the Southern California Bight: A Synthesis and Interpretation. Berkeley, CA, US: University of California Press. p. 477. ISBN 0-520-07578-1.
6. McClatchie, Sam (2014). Regional Fisheries Oceanography of the California Current System: The CalCOFI program. New York, NY, US: Springer Science and Business Media. p. 172. ISBN 978-94-007-7222-9.
7. Kruckeberg, Arthur R. (1991). The Natural History of Puget Sound Country. Seattle, WA, US: University of Washington Press. p. 90. ISBN 0-295-97477-X.
8. Coulson, John (2011). The Kittiwake. London, UK: T & AD Poyser. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4081-0966-3.

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• Myctophidae
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• Fish described in 1890
• Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann
• Taxa named by Rosa Smith Eigenmann
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