Bathylagoides wesethi very low on the underside of the body. The colour is dark brown above with black spots and a black patch around the operculum, which extends halfway up the body. The flanks are silvery-grey and the fins lack pigment. The caudal peduncle is narrow, the caudal fin is short, and the lateral line, which is high on the body, extends into the tail fin. The maximum length to which this fish grows is about . The snubnose blacksmelt is found in deep water in the Pacific Ocean off the western coast of North America. Its range extends from 45°N to
Houndfish ages. The houndfish also has a more stout, cylindrical body and a shorter head than other needlefishes. They have dark blue backs and silver-white sides and are plain white ventrally. A houndfish has a distinct keel on the caudal peduncle, and the caudal fin itself is deeply forked. Juvenile houndfish possess an elevated, black lobe on the posterior of their dorsal fins. The longest recorded houndfish was , and the largest recorded weight was . In the Indian and Pacific Oceans, houndfish are found in the Red Sea and from the coast of South Africa, east to French Polynesia, and