Myctophum asperum, common name the prickly lanternfish, is a species of deep sea fish

Deep sea fish

Deep sea fish is a term for any fish that lives below the photic zone of the ocean. The lanternfish is, by far, the most common deep sea fish. Other deep sea fish include the flashlight fish, cookiecutter shark, bristlemouths, anglerfish, and viperfish....

 in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Myctophidae, the "lanternfish".

Distribution

Myctophum asperum is found in the following regions:

• Western Atlantic Ocean
  Atlantic Ocean
  The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
  
   from 20° north to Brazil
  Brazil
  Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
  
  , and also occurs in the Gulf of Mexico
  Gulf of Mexico
  The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
  
  .
• Eastern Atlantic Ocean, occurring from Mauritania
  Mauritania
  Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
  
   to South Africa
  South Africa
  The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
  
   in the Agulhas
  Agulhas
  L'Agulhas is a coastal village in the Western Cape province of South Africa, and the southernmost settlement on the mainland of Africa. It is situated just northeast of Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa....
  
   water pockets.
• Northwest Atlantic near Canada.
• Indo-Pacific in both the following currents:
• North and south equatorial currents
• Equatorial countercurrents
• East Australian and Agulhas currents
• Eastern Central Pacific.
• South China Sea and East China Sea

Larvae have also been found in the Taiwan Strait

Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...

.

Habitat

This species is found at depths of between 425 and 750 metres during the day. At night it can descend to depths of 125 metres to feed on plankton.

Synomyms

• Dasyscopelus asper (Richardson, 1845)
• Dasyscopelus naufragus Waite, 1904
• Scopelus asper (Richardson, 1845)