For the obsolete genus grouping, see Leptocephalus (genus).
For the cephalic disorder Leptocephaly, see Scaphocephaly.
Leptocephalus larva
A leptocephalus (meaning "slim head"[1]) is the flat and transparent larva of the eel, marine eels, and other members of the superorder Elopomorpha. This is one of the most diverse groups of teleosts, containing 801 species in 4 orders, 24 families, and 156 genera. This group is thought to have arisen in the Cretaceous period over 140 million years ago.[2]
Fishes with a leptocephalus larval stage include the most familiar eels such as the conger, moray eel, and garden eel as well as members of the family Anguillidae, plus more than 10 other families of lesser-known types of marine eels. These are all true eels of the order Anguilliformes. Leptocephali of eight species of eels from the South Atlantic Ocean were described by Meyer-Rochow [3]
The fishes of the other four traditional orders of elopomorph fishes that have this type of larvae are more diverse in their body forms and include the tarpon, bonefish, spiny eel, pelican eel and deep sea species like Cyema atrum[3] and notacanthidae species, the latter with giant Leptocephalus-like larvae.[4]
^"Leptocephalus | Definition of leptocephalus by Merriam-Webster". www.merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 2015-11-27.
^Inuoe, Jun, M. Miya, et al. “Mitogenomic evidence for the monophyly of elopomorph fishes (Teleostei) and the evolutionary origin of the leptocephalus larva.” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32 (2004): 274-286. Web. 2 Nov. 2012.
^ abMeyer-Rochow, Victor Benno (1974). "Leptocephali and other transparent fish larvae from the South-Eastern Atlantic Ocean". Zoologischer Anzeiger. 192: 240–251.
^Castle, Peter H.J. (1973). "A giant notacanthiform Leptocephalus from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand". Records of the Dominion Museum of New Zealand. 8: 121–124.
notacanthidae species, the latter with giant Leptocephalus-like larvae. Leptocephali (singular leptocephalus) all have laterally compressed bodies that...
instead, they were thought to be a separate species, Leptocephalus brevirostris (from the Greek leptocephalus meaning "thin- or flat-head"). In 1886, however...
12 November 2021. "Nocomis leptocephalus: Accepted name". Retrieved 1 January 2013. "Bluehead Chub, Nocomis leptocephalus". The Virginia Fish and Wildlife...
Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe. Collins. 1994. Cerioporus leptocephalus in Index Fungorum Cerioporus leptocephalus in MycoBank. v t e...
most conger eels are poorly known. Based on collections of their small leptocephalus larvae, the American conger eel has been found to spawn in the southwestern...
None has been reported to migrate up rivers. 2. Leptocephali: The leptocephalus is the larval form, a stage strikingly different from the adult form...
(eds.) (2011). "Pseudaspius leptocephalus" in FishBase. August 2011 version. Bogutskaya, N. (2022). "Pseudaspius leptocephalus". IUCN Red List of Threatened...
has media related to Benthophilus leptocephalus. Wikispecies has information related to Benthophilus leptocephalus. Boldyrev V.S., Bogutskaya N.G. (2007)...
The giant leptocephalus (Coloconger giganteus) is an eel in the family Colocongridae (worm eels/short-tail eels). It was described by Peter Henry John...
and by 2022 they were surviving up to around 140 days, well into the leptocephalus stage (the stage just before glass eel), but the full life cycle has...
Jordan in Robert Earl Richardson in 1909, originally under the genus Leptocephalus. It is a marine, subtropical eel which is known from the western Pacific...
Hylaeus leptocephalus is a species of hymenopteran in the family Colletidae. It is native to the Palearctic but can, since 1912, also be found in North...
to other eels, when pelican eels are first born, they start in the leptocephalus stage, meaning that they are extremely thin and transparent. Until they...
described by Johann Jakob Kaup in 1856, originally under the genus Leptocephalus. It is a subtropical, marine eel which is known from the southeastern...
described by Pehr Hugo Strömman in 1896, originally under the genus Leptocephalus. It is a tropical, marine eel which is known from the Indo-Pacific,...
dam walls, and natural waterfalls. Eel eggs hatch firstly into the leptocephalus larval stage. Larval eels become glass eels as they transition from...
of an eel that had been found in the northeast Atlantic and named it Leptocephalus holti. In 1974, Raju described a similar larval eel from the Pacific...
described by Charles Tate Regan in 1916, originally under the genus Leptocephalus. It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from throughout...
leptocephalus stage, is completed after 20–30 days. It occurs in clear, warm oceanic waters, usually within 10–20 m of the surface. The leptocephalus...
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