Fish of the Maurolicus genus of the Maurolicinae subfamily of the Sternoptychidae (marine hatchetfishes, or deep-sea hatchetfishes) family of the Gonostomatoidei suborder of the Stomiiformes order of the Stenopterygii superorder.
(Silvery lightfish. Photo by © Oddgeir Alvheim. IUCNweb. flickr.com/photos/iucnweb)
Silvery lightfish, or Mueller’s pearlside (Maurolicus muelleri) was first described in 1789 by the German doctor, botanist and chemist Johann Friedrich Gmelin (1748-1804).
Bathypelagic species. It occurs at the depth of 271-1.524 meters, usually 300-400 meters. The maximum recorded length is 8 cm, usually up to 4 cm. It feeds on zooplankton.
(Silvery lightfish. Photo by © Erling Svensen. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the southern part of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of silvery lightfish, or Mueller’s pearlside (Maurolicus muelleri) in other languages are as follows:
Lichtend sprotje (Dutch), Plateadito (Spanish), Maurolico (Italian), Lachshering (German), Mauryk (Polish), Мавролик Мюллера (Mavrolik Mjullera) (Russian), Trbobrošic, Trbobrošić plosac (Serbian, Croatian), Bisernik (Slovenian), Maurolique de Müller (French), Işık balığı (Turkish).