midshipman

…be sexual attractants in the midshipman (Porichthys)—so named because the organs resemble rows of bright buttons on a naval uniform. The northern midshipman (P. notatus), a common species on the eastern Pacific coast, spawns in shallow water, attaching its eggs to a rocky surface. The male guards the eggs. Like…

Midshipmen (Porichthyinae, about 15 species), which are restricted to tropical and temperate coasts of the Americas, are unusual in being shallow-water fishes with photophores, a feature generally found in deepwater forms. Most midshipmen occur at depths of less than 50 fathoms (1 fathom equals 6…

…gill covers; and midshipmen (Porichthys), shallow-water American fishes named for numerous (600–840) small, buttonlike light organs arranged in rows along the body.