Species: Gephyroberyx darwinii, Big Roughy, Darwin's Slimehead

Gephyroberyx darwinii (Johnson, 1866)

Big Roughy, Darwin's Slimehead

Body oblong, compressed; head large, with extensive skin-covered sensory canals separated by spiny ridges; eyes moderate to large; snout rounded, with a pair of forward pointing spines; mouth large and oblique; an extra bone above rear of top jaw; teeth small, simple, in bands; preopercle with a flat triangular spine; a large spine projecting back from top corner of operculum; anus just before anal fin; 1 dorsal fin with VIII (rarely VII) striated spines and 12-18 soft rays, base of spiny part not shorter than anal fin base; anal fin II-III, 11-12, short base; tail fin forked, with 4-8 short, spiny rays at top and bottom of its base; scales thick and spiny; 12-14 large keeled scales along midline of belly between pelvic and anal fins; lateral line scales a little larger than surrounding scales and each with a small, flat, triangular spine.

Silvery red, body paler below, fins more strongly colored; inside gill chamber black.

Reaches 60 cm.

Outer edges of continental shelves and island shelves; near and above hard bottoms.

Depth range: 10-1250 m, usually below 75 m.

E and W Atlantic, and the Indo-W Pacific; Delaware to Argentina.