Phosichthyidae
| Lightfishes | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ichthyococcus ovatus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | Phosichthyidae
|
| Genera | |
|
Ichthyococcus | |
Lightfishes are small stomiiform fishes in the family Phosichthyidae[1][2] (spelled Photichthyidae in Nelson[3]).
They are very small fishes found in oceans throughout the world: most species grow no longer than 10 cm, while those in the genus Vinciguerria only reach 4 cm or so.
They make up for their small size with abundant numbers: Vinciguerria is thought — with the possible exception of Cyclothone — to be the most abundant genus of vertebrates. Deep-sea trawls of the Humboldt Current in the southeast Pacific have found that lightfishes make up 85% by mass of mesopelagic fishes, with Vinciguerria lucetia by far the most numerous species.[4]
They are bioluminescent fishes, possessing rows of photophores along their sides, with which they hunt planktonic invertebrates, especially krill.
Species
There are 24 species in seven genera:
- Genus Ichthyococcus
- Ichthyococcus australis Mukhacheva, 1980.
- Slim lightfish, Ichthyococcus elongatus Imai, 1941.
- Ichthyococcus intermedius Mukhacheva, 1980.
- Bulldog lightfish, Ichthyococcus irregularis Rechnitzer & Böhlke, 1958.
- Ichthyococcus ovatus (Cocco, 1838).
- Ichthyococcus parini Mukhacheva, 1980.
- Ichthyococcus polli Blache, 1963.
- Genus Phosichthys
- Phosichthys argenteus Hutton, 1872.
Phosichthys argenteus
- Phosichthys argenteus Hutton, 1872.
- Genus Pollichthys
- Stareye lightfish, Pollichthys mauli (Poll, 1953).
- Genus Polymetme
- Polymetme andriashevi Parin & Borodulina, 1990.
- Polymetme corythaeola (Alcock, 1898).
- Polymetme elongata (Imai, 1941).
- Polymetme illustris McCulloch, 1926.
- Polymetme surugaensis (Matsubara, 1943).
- Polymetme thaeocoryla Parin & Borodulina, 1990.
- Genus Vinciguerria
- Vinciguerria attenuata (Cocco, 1838).
- Panama lightfish, Vinciguerria lucetia (Garman, 1899).
- Vinciguerria mabahiss Johnson & Feltes, 1984.
- Oceanic lightfish, Vinciguerria nimbaria (Jordan & Williams, 1895).
- Power's deep-water bristle-mouth fish, Vinciguerria poweriae (Cocco, 1838).
- Genus Woodsia
- Woodsia meyerwaardeni Krefft, 1973.
- Bigeye lightfish, Woodsia nonsuchae (Beebe, 1932).
- Genus Yarrella
- Yarrella argenteola (Garman, 1899).
- Yarrella blackfordi Goode & Bean, 1896.
Yarrella blackfordi
References
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Phosichthyidae". FishBase. January 2006 version.
- ^ "Phosichthyidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 29 March.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - ^ Joseph S. Nelson (1994). Fishes of the World, 3rd edition. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0471547131.
- ^ R. Cornejo, R. Koppelmann & T. Sutton. "Deep-sea fish diversity and ecology in the benthic boundary layer".