Dragonfishes and Relatives: Stomiiformes

Little is known about the behavior of drag-onfishes and their relatives, mainly because most of them have never been seen alive. Most species swim from a daytime depth of 1,600 to 3,300 feet (488 to 1,000 meters) to near the surface at night and then back down again before sunrise. This upward migration or movement is thought to be mainly for feeding. Food is much more plentiful near the surface. It is thought that most dragonfishes and their relatives spawn at their deeper daytime depths. Some species have separate sexes, while others mature into males, produce sperm to fertilize (FUR-teh-lyez) eggs, or join with them to start development, and then later develop into females, producing eggs that are fertilized by younger males. In species with separate sexes, males often have a greatly developed sense of smell to help in finding females.