Hammerjaw
The hammerjaw, Omosudis lowii, is a small deep-sea aulopiform fish, found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) depth. It is the only representative of its family, Omosudidae (from the Greek omo, "shoulder", and Latin sudis, either "esox, fish of the Rhine" or "stake"). The large head is dominated by a massive, truncated lower jaw and large, high-set eyes. The lower jaw has a dark, almost black distal end, "chin". The lower jaw possesses at least one pair of oversized, transparent, and dagger-like teeth; the palatines possess 1–4 pairs of slightly smaller teeth. The body itself is scaleless and laterally compressed; it is covered in iridescent, silvery-gray guanine with the dark peritoneum peeking through in places. Dark smoky gray dorsally, the body tapers strongly towards a thin caudal peduncle (which has a dermal keel) and deeply forked caudal fin. The caudal peduncle is a smoky black color, darker than the body and tail. All fins are spineless; both the low-slung pectoral fins (with 11–16 soft rays) and abdominal pelvic fins (with eight soft rays) are fairly small.
Hammerjaw
Hammerjaw
Hammerjaw
Hammerjaw
Hammerjaw
Hammerjaw
Hammerjaw
Hammerjaw
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