The softskin smooth-head (Rouleina attrita), also called the softskin slickhead, is a species of fish in the family Alepocephalidae.[3][4]
Its specific name is from the Latin attrīta ("bruised, worn away"), presumably referring to the mutilated or decomposed state of the type specimens.[5]
The softskin smooth-head is black, measuring up to 42 cm (17 in).[6] Its upper jaw reaches to behind the eye, and it has a lateral line of 43–48 photophores.[7] It has 43–46 vertebrae.[8] Its scales are deciduous and its skin contains small fluid-filled compartments.[9] Its eyes contain convexiclivate temporal foveae containing densely packed ganglia.[10]
The softskin smooth-head is engybenthic or bathypelagic, meaning that it swims near the seafloor, living at depths of 450–2,300 m (1,480–7,550 ft). It has been recorded in all non-polar seas.[11][12]
Its testes are ribbon-like, in convoluted folds but never in discrete lobes. Its eggs are large, up to 3.2 mm (0.13 in) in diameter.[13]
The softskin smooth-head (Rouleina attrita), also called the softskin slickhead, is a species of fish in the family Alepocephalidae.
Its specific name is from the Latin attrīta ("bruised, worn away"), presumably referring to the mutilated or decomposed state of the type specimens.
