You can sponsor this page

Bregmaceros mcclellandi Thompson, 1840

Unicorn cod
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Bregmaceros mcclellandi   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Bregmaceros mcclellandi (Unicorn cod)
Bregmaceros mcclellandi
Picture by Gloerfelt-Tarp, T.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gadiformes (Cods) > Bregmacerotidae (Codlets)
Etymology: Bregmaceros: Greek, bregma = front of the head + Greek, keras, -atos = horn (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: John McClelland (1805–1875) was a British doctor with interests in geology and natural history. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 2000 m (Ref. 26165). Subtropical; 25°N - 6°N, 62°E - 100°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indian Ocean: confirmed from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Reports from outside this area are most likely misidentifications (A.S. Harold, pers. comm., 18/08/98) and name reported from western Pacific may be a misidentification of B. pseudolanceolatus (Ref. 114229).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4496); common length : 7.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2872); max. published weight: 8.50 g (Ref. 128684)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 57 - 66; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 58 - 69; Vertebrae: 52 - 58. Body is elongate, brownish and with speckling above and silvery below. The cheek and lower head also silver. Single occipital ray long and delicate, extending to near the middle of the second dorsal fin (Ref. 46075). Pelvic fins are jugular.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

If taxonomy is correct, both onshore in brackish water and oceanic. According to larval survey, occurrence in the tropics is wide (Ref. 9902, 45075). Feed on planktonic crustaceans. Also caught with bagnets (Ref. 2872).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Bailly, Nicolas | Collaborators

Cohen, D.M., 1990. Bregmacerotidae. p. 524-525. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4496)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 5.6 - 13.1, mean 8.8 °C (based on 755 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5001   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00363 (0.00194 - 0.00680), b=3.16 (2.99 - 3.33), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.42 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Assuming tm=1).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (48 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 371 [67, 1,117] mg/100g; Iron = 2.89 [0.77, 7.08] mg/100g; Protein = 17.3 [14.9, 19.7] %; Omega3 = 0.283 [0.119, 0.635] g/100g; Selenium = 41.6 [13.0, 146.7] μg/100g; VitaminA = 63.1 [14.0, 271.9] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.04 [0.55, 2.50] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.