Abyssal grenadier
(Coryphaenoides armatus)

The abyssal grenadier, Coryphaenoides armatus, is an abyssal fish of the genus Coryphaenoides, found in all the worlds oceans, at depths between 800 and 4,000 metres (2,600 and 13,100 ft).

Its adult length is 20 to 40 centimetres (8 to 16 in), although Fishbase gives lengths up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in).

The abyssal grenadiers body is unique in that it contains two dorsal spines and about 124 dorsal soft rays, which are the flexible jointed rays supporting a fin nearest to the back in the spinal column. It has no anal spines, but has 115 anal soft rays along its body. The head and eyes of this fish are very large, while the mouth is very small. The color of the abyssal grenadier is brown apart from the abdomen, which is bluish.

Coryphaenoides armatus occurs at the deep-slope, on the upper continental rise between 2,000 m and 4,700 m. However, they have been observed at depths between 282 m and 5180 m. This depth range is dependent on the ocean as C. armatus lives in depths between 2000 and 4800 meters in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans but are limited to nutrient-dense environments between 2000 and 4300 meters in the Pacific Ocean.

Its diet changes as it matures, from benthic invertebrates such as crustaceans and holothuroids when young to mesopelagic and bathypelagic fish, sea urchins and cephalopods when adult.