Fish of the Diaphus genus of the Myctophidae (lanternfishes or myctophids) family of the Myctophiformes order of the Scopelomorpha superorder.
(White-spotted lantern fish. Photo by © Francesco Costa. fishbase.org)
White-spotted lantern fish (Diaphus rafinesquii) was first described in 1838 by the Italian naturalist Anastasio Cocco (1799-1854).
Bathypelagic species. It occurs at the depth of 40-1200 meters. The maximum recorded length is 9 cm. It feeds on crustaceans.
It is a permanent inhabitant of the southern part of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of white-spotted lantern fish (Diaphus rafinesquii) in other languages are as follows:
Rafino (Spanish), Occhio lucente (Italian), Weißpunkt-Laternenfisch (German), Диаф Рафинеску (Diaf Rafinesku) (Russian), Gušteran, Gušteran batoglav (Serbian, Croatian).