Flabby whalefish are small, deep-sea cetomimiform fish of the family Cetomimidae. They are among the most deep-living fish known, with some species recorded at depths in excess of 3,500 metres (11,500 ft). Juveniles are known as tapetails and were formerly thought to be in a separate family, dubbed Mirapinnidae. Adults exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism, and the adult males were once thought to be exemplars of still another family, Megalomycteridae.
Thought to have a circumglobal distribution throughout the Southern Hemisphere, flabby whalefish are the most diverse family of whalefishes. The largest species, Gyrinomimus grahami, reaches a length of some 40 centimetres. They are distinguished from other whalefishes by their loose, scaleless skin and lack of photophores.
Read more about Flabby Whalefish: Description, Tapetails
Famous quotes containing the word flabby:
“How, in one short century, has this ersatz sport so strangled the consciousness of the country in the grip of its flabby tentacles that the mention of women’s baseball gets no reaction other than blank amazement?”
—Darlene Mehrer, As quoted in Women in Baseball. Ch. 6, by Gai Ingham Berlage (1994)