Microlophichthys
| Microlophichthys | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Lophiiformes |
| Family: | Oneirodidae |
| Genus: | Microlophichthys Regan & Trewavas, 1932 |
| Type species | |
| Dolopichthys microlophus Regan, 1925
| |
Microlophichthys is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Oneirodidae, the dreamers, a family of deep sea anglerfishes. The species in this genus are found in the tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Taxonomy
[edit]Micrlophichthys was first proposed as a monotypic subgenus of Dolopichthys in 1932 by the British ichthyologists Charles Tate Regan and Ethelwynn Trewavas with Dolopichthys microlophus as its only species. As Regan and Trewavas proposed the subgenus after 1930 they should have explicitly designated a type species in accordance with Article 13b of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, this was not done until Maurice Burton designated the type species in The Zoological Record, the authorship should be Burton (ex Regan & Trewavas) byt prevailing usage is Regan & Trewavas, 1932.[1] D. microlophus was first formally described in 1925 by Regan with its type locality given as the Eastern Atlantic, about 95 km (59 mi) northeast of Santo Antão, Cape Verde at 17°55'N, 24°35'W from a depth of around 1,500 m (4,900 ft).[2] In 1951, the Danish ichthyologist Erik Bertelsen proposed that Microlophichthys was a valid genus[1] and described a second species, M. andracanthus from the Caribbean Sea.[2] Microlophichthys has been described as one of the more basal genera within the family Oneirodidae.[3] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus in the family Oneirodidae in the suborder Ceratioidei of the anglerfish order Lophiiformes.[4]
Etymology
[edit]Microlophichthys is a combination of micro, meaning "small", lophus, meaning "tuft" and ichthys, the Greek word for "fish". The name is an allusion to the short illicium of the type speces, the length of the illicium being no greater than one eighth the length of the fish.[5]
Species
[edit]Microlophichtys currently has 2 recognised species classified within it:[6]
- Microlophichthys andracanthus Bertelsen, 1951
- Microlophichthys microlophus Regan, 1925 (Short-rod anglerfish)
Characteristics
[edit]Microlophichthys anglerfishes are, like the other deep sea anglerfishes, sexually dimorphic. The metamorphosed females are characterised by having naked skin, without spinules. They further have spines on the sphenotic bone and the rear margin of the operculim is deeply incised. The pectoral fins have a lobe which is shorter than the longest rays of that fin and wide. There is a spine at the symphysis of the lower jaw and the dentary bones are convex at the lower margin of the symphyses. The fin rays in the caudal fin have no internal pigmentation, the black skin of the caudal peduncle extends past the caudal fin base. The short illicium emerges on the snout between the frontal bones, the escal bulb has a length which is greater than half of the length of the illicium and the mouth extends past the eye.[7] The metamorphosed males share many of the characteristics of the gneus with the metamorphosed females but they have no teeth in their jaws, the upper dentary bone has an undetermined number, some being fused, of denticles which are long and irregularky curved while the lower dentary bone has 8 low and robust denticle on a row with the outer denticle slightly offset. In M. andracanthus, which is known only from males, there are spines on the dorsal partof the upper denticular bone.[8] The maximum published total length is for a female of M. microlphus and was 11.8 cm (4.6 in),[9] while males vary in total length between 2.5 and 17 mm (0.098 and 0.669 in).<ref name = Pietsch2009
References
[edit]- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Oneirodidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Microlophichthys". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ Theodore W. Pietsch (1974). "Systematics and distribution of ceratioid anglerfishes of the genus Lophodolos (family Oneirodidae)". Breviora. 425: 1–19.
- ^ Nelson, J.S.; Grande, T.C.; Wilson, M.V.H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 508–518. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. LCCN 2015037522. OCLC 951899884. OL 25909650M.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf (3 June 2024). "Order LOPHIIFORMES (part 2): Families CAULOPHRYNIDAE, NEOCERATIIDAE, MELANOCETIDAE, HIMANTOLOPHIDAE, DICERATIIDAE, ONEIRODIDAE, THAUMATICHTHYIDAE, CENTROPHRYNIDAE, CERATIIDAE, GIGANTACTINIDAE and LINOPHRYNIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2024). Species of Microlophichthys in FishBase. June 2024 version.
- ^ Theodore W. Pietsch and Jeffrey W. Siegel (1980). "Ceratioid anglerfishes of the Philippine Archipelago, with descriptions of five new species". Fisheries Bulletin. 78: 379=399.
- ^ Theodore W. Pietsch Ph.D. (1989). Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea. University of California Press. pp. 425–428. ISBN 0520942558.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2024). "Microlophichthys microlophus" in FishBase. June 2024 version.
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