Lancetfish
| Lancetfishes Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Longnose lancetfish, Alepisaurus ferox | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Aulopiformes |
| Family: | Alepisauridae Swainson, 1839 |
| Genus: | Alepisaurus R. T. Lowe, 1833 |
Lancetfishes are large oceanic predatory fishes in the genus Alepisaurus ("scaleless lizard") in the monogeneric family Alepisauridae.
Lancetfishes grow up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in length. Very little is known about their biology, though they are widely distributed in all oceans, except the polar seas. Specimens have been recorded as far north as Greenland. They are often caught as bycatch by vessels long-lining for tuna.
The generic name is from Greek a- meaning "without", lepis meaning "scale", and sauros meaning "lizard".
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