grip (Figure B). M. nigers is unique in that it does not contain gill rakers or gill teeth which is typically found in carnivorious fish species (Figure C). The anterior vertebrae appear to be unossified which enables the fish to “throw back its head” to take on relatively large prey. Lastly, M. nigers lacks an ethinoid membrane (no “floor” in its mouth) which allows for it to consume bigger prey species (Figure D). (Refer to image on right hand side of webpage). The lack of a floor of the oral cavity allows for decreased resistive forces which allows M. niger to close its mouth rapidly and easily trap its prey. This adaptation also minimizes the amount of energy required for M. niger to close its mouth, thus permitting it to quickly latch onto fast-swimming prey. The postorbital photophore in this species is larger than in M. australis. It also differs in lateral photophore count, as well as in morphological characters. The maximum known length is 25.6 cm (10.1 in). Its specific epithet niger is Latin for "black". Ecological and geographical distribution Malacosteus niger is a circumglobal species and has a large geographic range. It can typically be found from the Arctic latitudes of 66° North and from 30° South in the Southern Hemisphere. While M. nigers is found throughout the world, it appears to be widely distributed and found often in the Eastern Central Atlantic Ocean. M. niger does not leave the mesopalgic and is known to have a vertical range from 500 meters to 1000 meters. Interestingly, it is believed to be the only member of the family that does not go through diel/vertical migration, which means that it does not migrate up to the surface like other fish species. Diet While the morphology of M. niger with huge fangs and an enormous gape is typical for its family and suggests adaptations to piscivory, its diet in fact contains a substantial proportion of zooplankton. Some of its documented prey include calanoid copepods, micronekton, decapod shrimps, and other decapods. M. niger digests its prey within a diel cycle, meaning the copepods it consumes at nighttime are digested by the afternoon the following day, which requires it to be constantly feeding on these small prey to sustain its energy. It has been recorded that copopods make up around 69%-83% of M. niger's diet. This suggests that availability of large prey at