The Lovely Hatchetfish or Atlantic Silver Hatchetfish (Argyropelecus aculeatus) is a species of deep-sea hatchetfish. It may exceed 70 millimetres (2.8 in) standard length (SL). It lives in the mesopelagic zone of all oceans and performs diel vertical migration. A. aculeatus feeds on a large range of prey items; in the Gulf of Mexico ostracods and copepods dominated the diet of small individuals (<30 mm SL) and euphausiids, molluscs, and fish the diet of larger ones. The silvery coloration and bioluminescence of the Lovely Hatchetfish allows it to hide from predators and prey in the down-welling light of the twilight zone.
