Gigantactis meadi is a member of the genus Giganactis, the name of which is a combination of gigantos, meaning "giant", with actis, which means "ray", an allusion to the unusually long illicium of the genus's type species, G. vanhoeffeni. The specific name honours Giles W. Mead, a biology professor at Harvard University, deep sea explorer and ichthyologist, for being chief scientist the expedition it was collected on and for his overall contributions to ichthyology.[6]
Description
Gigantactis meadi is a plain black whipnose angler that has a comparatively short illicium with a tuft of white filaments at its base and short filaments along the length of the rear of the illicium. There is a rear elongation of the esca, which is twice its width and constricted at its base. The lower jaw has 5 or 6 rows of long teeth.[7] This species has a maximum published standard length of 28.5 cm (11.2 in).[8]
Distribution and habitat
Gigantactis meadi has a circumglobal distribution in the southern hemisphere between 30 and 53°S. It has been found at depths between 1,250 and 2,000 m (4,100 and 6,560 ft).[1]
Stewart, A.L. and Pietsch, T.W. 2015. Family Gigantactinidae. In: Roberts, C., Stewart, A.L. and Struthers, C.D. (eds), The Fishes of New Zealand, pp. 932–936. Te Papa Press.