Distribution:

Tropical and warm temperate waters of all oceans, but absent from eastern Pacific except at Sala y Gomez Ridge.

Diagnosis:

Dorsal spines (total): 18-20; Dorsal softrays (total): 17-20; Anal spines: 2-3; Anal soft-rays: 15-17. Body moderately elongate. Mouth with fang-like teeth. Spinescent gill rakers on the first arch with 1 - 3 cusps and many small spines; the angular raker long and triple-rooted. Body entirely scaled at over 20 - 25 cm SL. Pyloric caeca 7 or 8. Color is grayish to copper brown; fins blackish at over 40 cm SL, yellowish with black tips in smaller specimens (the first dorsal fin with a black blotch on two anteriormost membranes); the buccal and branchial cavities are black. Pelvic fin reduced to one spine that becomes entirely absent in specimens more than 40 cm SL.

Biology:

Found at continental slopes, around oceanic islands and submarine rises. Migrates to midwater at night. Feeds on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans.

Max. size: 100.0 cm

Environment: benthopelagic; depth range 80 - 800 m

Climate: subtropical; 50°N - 36°S

Canary Islands country information: Name: Escolar