Warty oreo

Taxobox
name = Warty oreo


image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Zeiformes
familia = Oreosomatidae
genus = "Allocyttus"
species = "A. verrucosus"
binomial = "Allocyttus verrucosus"
binomial_authority = Gilchrist, 1906

The warty oreo, "Allocyttus verrucosus", is an oreo of the genus "Neocyttus", found in all southern oceans at depths of between 300 and 1,600 m. Its length is up to 42 cm.

The warty oreo is very similar to the spiky oreo, but with the lower corner of the diamond shaped body not as pointed, shorter dorsal and anal fin spines, and two rows of enlarged warty scales along the sides of the belly between the pelvic and anal fins.

The colour is dark grey with black fins.

Warty oreos occur on the continental slope, forming large shoals over rough ground near pinnacles and canyons. Juveniles are pelagic and inhabit oceanic waters in depths of less than 1000 m. They feeds on shrimps, cephalopods, and fishes. Their eggs float near the sea surface and the larvae also inhabit surface waters.

They are very long living creatures, the oldest living to be 140 years old.

References

*
* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
* [http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Allocyttus_verrucosus AnAge: Warty oreo]