biology

Melanocetus murrayi

Melanocetus murrayi is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Melanocetus murrayi rather than just read about it. In short: Melanocetus murrayi, commonly known as Murray's abyssal anglerfish, is a deep sea anglerfish in the family Melanocetidae, found in tropical to temperate parts of the world's oceans at depths down to over 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Taxonomy Melanocetus murrayi was first described by the German zoologist Albert Günther in 1887 from material dredged up from the deep on the Challenger expedition of 1872 to 1876, the first scie…

Key takeaways

Melanocetus murrayi belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Melanocetus murrayi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Melanocetus murrayi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Melanocetus murrayi, commonly known as Murray's abyssal anglerfish, is a deep sea anglerfish in the family Melanocetidae, found in tropical to temperate parts of the world's oceans at depths down to over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

Taxonomy Melanocetus murrayi was first described by the German zoologist Albert Günther in 1887 from material dredged up from the deep on the Challenger expedition of 1872 to 1876, the first scientific attempt to research the ocean depths; it was named in honour of Sir John Murray, a British biologist who took part in the expedition and was one of the founders of the new study of oceanography.

Description Like other anglerfish in the genus, the female M. murrayi has a large oblique mouth, jaws with long depressible fangs, small nostrils raised on a prominence, an illiceum (a long modified dorsal spine used as a lure), and skin without scales. It differs from others in the genus in having the width between the eyes between 2/5 and 4/7 of the width of the head and the lower jaw being 2/5 to 1/2 the fish's length. The illicium is 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the fish, and the bioluminescent esca on the tip is oval, sometimes with a raised crest at the back. The second dorsal fin has 12 to 14 soft rays, the anal fin has 3 to 4, the pectoral fin 15 to 18 and the caudal fin 9. Females grow to a length of about 13.5 cm (5 in) and males to 2.8 cm (1.1 in).

Distribution M. murrayi has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical to temperate parts of the world's oceans, between about 64°N and 43°S, and at depths from the surface down to over 2,000 m (6,600 ft), although most of the individuals recovered have been at greater depths than 1,500 m (4,900 ft).

Status This fish, sometimes caught as bycatch in deep sea trawling, is known from records of over three hundred female fish and four free-swimming males. Most of the sightings are at depths below 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the fish appears to be an uncommon species. However, no particular threats to the species have been identified, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Melanocetus murrayi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Melanocetus murrayi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Melanocetus murrayi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Melanocetus murrayi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Melanocetus murrayi

In research: Melanocetus murrayi appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Melanocetus murrayi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Melanocetus murrayi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Deep sea fish, Fish described in 1887, IUCN Red List least concern species, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Melanocetus murrayi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Melanocetus murrayi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Melanocetus murrayi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Melanocetus murrayi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Melanocetus murrayi in simple terms?

Why does Melanocetus murrayi matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Melanocetus murrayi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Melanocetus murrayi.