Stomiiformes

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Stomiiformes
Temporal range: Cenomanian–present
Astronesthes similus (Phosichthyoidei: Stomiidae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Superorder:
Osmeromorpha
Order: Stomiiformes
Regan, 1909
Type species
Stomias boa boa
(A. Risso, 1810)
Suborders

Stomioidei
Phosichthyoidei

Synonyms

Gonostomatiformes

Stomiiformes

deep-sea fishes, there are few common names for species of the order, but the Stomiiformes as a whole are often called dragonfishes and allies or simply stomiiforms.[1]

The

scientific name means "Stomias-shaped", from Stomias (the type genus) + the standard fish order suffix "-formes". It ultimately derives from Ancient Greek stóma (στόμᾶ, "mouth") + Latin forma ("external form"), the former in reference to the huge mouth opening of these fishes.[2]

The earliest stomiiform is Paravinciguerria from the Cenomanian of Morocco and Italy.[3]

Description and ecology

Members of this order are mostly

temperate waters up to subarctic or even Antarctic ones. [4]

Sloane's Viperfish
, Chauliodus sloani

The smallest species of this order is the

barbeled dragonfish Opostomias micripnus, widely found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans
and measuring about 50 cm (20 in) in adult length.

These fish have a highly unusual and often almost nightmarish appearance. They all have teeth on the

cycloid, delicate and easily sloughed off; some are scaleless. The coloration is typically dark brown or black; a few (mostly Gonostomatoidei) are silver, and photophores (light-producing organs) are common in this order.[4]

The teeth of stomiiformes are often transparent and non-reflective so that prey will be unlikely to see them in the light generated by bioluminescence. Research has revealed that the transparency of the teeth of

Chauliodus sloani (which are also transparent) have dentin tubules.[6]
The reason behind difference in presence of dentin tubules in two species of the same family (Stomiidae) has yet to be addressed.

Bioluminescence

Half-naked Hatchetfish, Argyropelecus hemigymnus (Gonostomatoidei: Sternoptychidae), with a crustacean
Note the photophores
along the fish's belly

As common for

refractors
.

The most common arrangement is one or two rows of photophores on the ventral aspect of the body. The rows run from the head down to the tip of the tail. Photophores are also present in chin barbels of the family Stomiidae. The light produced in these glandular organs is the product of an enzymatic reaction, a catylization of coelenterazine by calcium ions.[citation needed][7]

Daily migration

During the day, Stomiiformes stay in deep waters. When the sun sets, most of them follow the dimming sunlight up to near-surface waters, which are richer in animal life such as small fishes and planktonic invertebrates. During the night, these Stomiiformes hunt and feed on such organisms, swimming back to deeper waters when the sun rises. They apparently are able to measure the intensity of the sunlight that reaches them.[citation needed] They will thus move to stay always in the zone where light intensity is very low, though it is not entirely dark.

This daily migration is well observed in quite a few species of stomiiforms. However, it is also performed by other fishes, while some larger Stomiiformes – among them the largest

predators of the deep sea – stay in their habitat
all the time and feed on smaller migrating fish that return from the surface.

Reproduction

Stomiiforms

metamorphosis and look like adults, they descend to join the main population.[citation needed
]

Like many

sexually mature, they are males; later on they transform into females.[citation needed
]

Systematics

The Stomiiformes are often placed in the

taxa.[8]

Elongated Bristlemouth, Gonostoma elongatum
(Stomioidei: Gonostomatidae)
Yarrella blackfordi
(Phosichthyoidei: Phosichthyidae)

The Stomiiformes have also been considered close relatives of the

phylogeny of this group of moderately-advanced Teleostei is in need of further study.[9]

The ancestral Stomiiformes probably had thin brownish bodies, rows of egg-shaped

autapomorphic
, and at a casual glance do not look as if they were as closely related to the other stomiiforms as they actually are.

Thus, the classification of the

suborders and families
of the Stomiiformes is:

Timeline of genera

QuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneCretaceousHolocenePleistocenePlioceneMioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneLate CretaceousEarly CretaceousPhotichthysIchthyococcusGonostomaCyclothoneChauliodusSaheliniaOhuusMaurolicusPolymetmeglareosusArgyripnusSternoptyxPolyipnusScopeloidesPraewoodsiaDanaphosVinciguerriaAstronesthesPolyipnoidesArgyropelecusValenciennellusPolymetmeIdrissaParavinciguerriaQuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneCretaceousHolocenePleistocenePlioceneMioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneLate CretaceousEarly Cretaceous

Footnotes

  1. ^ Nelson (2006): pp.207-208
  2. ^ Woodhouse (1910), Glare (1968-1982), FishBase (2005)
  3. ^ Carnevale, G.; Rindone, A. (2011). "The teleost fish Paravinciguerria praecursor Arambourg, 1954 in the Cenomanian of north-eastern Sicily". Bollettino Della Societa Paleontologica Italiana.
  4. ^ a b FishBase (2005), Nelson (2006): p.207
  5. doi:10.1016/j.matt.2019.05.010
    .
  6. ^ Greven, Hartmut; Walker, Yasmin; Zanger, Klaus (2009). "On the structure of teeth in the viperfish Chauliodus sloani Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (Stomiidae)". Bulletin of Fish Biology. 1 (1/2): 87–98.
  7. PMID 21141672
    – via Annual Reviews.
  8. ^ Nelson (2006): pp.207-208, Diogo (2008)
  9. ^ FishBase (2005), Diogo (2008)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stomiiformes.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stomiiformes&oldid=1192202935"