Stephanoberyciformes
| Stephanoberyciformes | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scopelogadus mizolepis mizolepis, a ridgehead | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Superorder: | Acanthopterygii |
| Order: | Stephanoberyciformes |
| Type species | |
Stephanoberyx monae
, 1883 | |
| Families | |
|
Gibberichthyidae Hispidoberycidae Melamphaidae Stephanoberycidae | |
The Stephanoberyciformes are an
deep-sea species with little, if any, importance to commercial fishery. They share many morphological similarities with the Beryciformes
, their sister order.
Some sourceswhalefishes, as a superfamily herein, named Cetomimoidea. Most taxa traditionally placed here would then be the Stephanoberyciodea.
The families are:
- Melamphaidae– ridgeheads (about 61 species)
- Gibberichthyidae– gibberfishes (2 species)
- Stephanoberycidae – pricklefishes (4 species)
- Hispidoberycidae- Bristlyskin (1 species)
Common characteristics include; a generally rounded body, a toothless
orbitosphenoid bone (except for Hispidoberyx
).
The gibberfishes on the other hand appear to be closer to whalefishes such as Rondeletia, as has been proposed time and again. These two groups have - apparently as only living fishes - the mysterious Tominaga's organ (A large mass of globular white tissue, that is present anterior to the orbit and posterior and medial to the nostrils and nasal rosette). Rondeletia, meanwhile, is suspected to be very close to the velvet whalefish, Barbourisia rufa.[2]
Footnotes
References
- Nelson, J.S. (2006): ISBN 0-471-25031-7
- Paxton, John R.; Johnson, G. David & Trnski, Thomas (2001): Larvae and juveniles of the deepsea "whalefishes" Barbourisia and Rondeletia (Stephanoberyciformes: Barbourisiidae, Rondeletiidae), with comments on family relationships. Records of the Australian Museum 53(3): 407-425. PDF fulltext
External links
- Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Stephanoberyciformes" in FishBase. March 2005 version.