ABSTRACT
The Zeiformes are a group of small to medium size (usually 20 to 60 cm SL), generally deep-bodied and highly compressed benthopelagic fishes with stout dorsal spines, small pectoral fins, and a slender caudal peduncle. Eyes are located near the dorsal profile and spiny scutes or large bony plates are found along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins, and on the breast and belly. Most species are rare in the western central North Atlantic (WCNA) where they reside in mid-to deep oceanic waters over the outer continental shelf or slope. In fact, only two specimens of Pseudocyttus maculatus have been caught in the WCNA, one off Iceland and the other off Suriname (Post & Jonsson 1996). The literature on zeiform fishes is scattered and inadequate, and the biology of individual species is poorly known (Tighe & Keene 1984). As currently recognized (Tyler et al. 2003), the Zeiformes contains six families, with most families containing few taxa. Heemstra (2003) lists the following families and species as occurring in our area: Parazenidae with one species Parazen pacificus Kamohara 1935, Zeniontidae with one species Zenion hololepis Goode & Bean 1896, Zeidae with two species Cyttopsis rosea (Lowe 1843) and Zenopsis conchifera (Lowe 1850), Oreosomatidae with two species Allocyttus verricosus (Gilchrist 1906) and Pseudocyttus maculatus Gilchrist 1906, and Grammicolepidae with two species Grammicolepis brachiusculus Poey 1873 and Xenolepidichthys dalgleishi Gilchrist 1922. Karrer (1990) also lists Zenion longipinnis Kotthaus 1970 (Zeniontidae) from our area. Two other species are reportedly extralimital but may occur in the WCNA: Neocyttus helgae (Holt & Byrne 1908) and Allocyttus guineensis Trunov 1982 in the Oreosomatidae (Backus et al. 1965; Karrer 1986). Another family, the Caproidae, formerly placed in the Zeiformes has been moved to the Perciformes.
