• Home
• About Fishes
• Fish Department
• Collections
• What's new
• Find a fish
  • Species name
  • Common name
  • Type of fish
  • Glossary
• Identify a fish
• Student stuff
• FAQs
• Fish movies
• Fish links

Find a Fish

Smalleye Squaretail
Tetragonurus cuvieri Risso, 1810

Head of a 47cm long Smalleye Squaretail from the fish collection (AMS I.38070-002). View larger image.

A 47cm long Smalleye Squaretail from the fish collection (AMS I.38070-002). View larger image.

Anterior region of a 48mm long juvenile Smalleye Squaretail caught at a depth of 2m (15m bottom depth), off Anacapa Island (view map), Channel Islands, California, USA, October 2002. View larger image.

A 48mm long juvenile Smalleye Squaretail caught at a depth of 2m (15m bottom depth), off Anacapa Island, Channel Islands, California, USA, October 2002. View larger image.

The Smalleye Squaretail can be recognised by its distinctive jaws, scalation (glossary) and body form. The lower jaw is very stout and has a single row of fan-like teeth. It is almost totally concealed by the upper jaw when the mouth is closed. The upper jaw has small pointed teeth in a single row. When viewed from the front the mouth opening is diamond-shaped.

This species has a long, slender body that is rounded in cross-section. There are small, ridged scales arranged in spirals around the body. The caudal peduncle (glossary) is rectangular in cross-section and has two lateral keels on both sides.

Adult Smalleye Squaretails are uniform dark brown to black. The juveniles are grey above and whitish below. This is probably an adaptation to the deepwater habitat of the adult and the surface habitat favoured by juveniles.

This species eats jellyfish and salps. At certain times of the year it is reported to be poisonous.

The Smalleye Squaretail grows to 70cm in length.

It has a widespread distribution in most world oceans. Adults live in continental slope waters at depths from 500m to 600m.

In Australia, the Smalleye Squaretail is recorded from New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania but probably occurs in deep waters off all southern Australian states.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Further reading

1. Gomon, M.F. in Gomon, M.F, C.J.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
2. Last, P.R, E.O.G. Scott & F.H. Talbot. 1983. Fishes of Tasmania. Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority. Pp. 563.
3. May, J.L & J.G.H. Maxwell. 1986. Field guide to Trawl Fish from Temperate Waters of Australia. CSIRO. Pp. 492.