AbstractMesopelagic fishes play a central role in marine food webs linking primary consumers to top predators. In this study, measures of direct calorimetry were used to analyse the energy density (ED) of 34 mesopelagic species collected at 12 stations in the equatorial and tropical Atlantic. Mean ED ranged from 2.7 kJ g−1 wet weight (WW) for the lanterfish Lampanyctus nobilis to 8.7 kJ g−1 WW for the lanterfish Benthosema glaciale. This study includes species of the orders Myctophiformes and Stomiiformes and represents migrants, non‐migrants and partial‐migrants species. The majority of the species were grouped into the medium‐energy quality category (ED from 4 to 6 kJ g−1); Myctophiformes showed higher energetic values than the Stomiiformes. For the different species, the ED values were discussed in relation to spawning period and energy allocation strategies for reproduction and growth and feeding and migratory behaviour, as well as the ecoregion of study. These values will be useful for future assessment of energetic transfer between trophic levels and energetic modelling of Atlantic ecosystems.