Tinselfish

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Tinselfishes
Thorny tinselfish, Grammicolepis brachiusculus, filmed by the NOAA Ocean Explorer at Northampton Seamounts, 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Laysan, Hawaii.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Zeiformes Family: Grammicolepididae
Genera
Grammicolepis Macrurocyttus Xenolepidichthys See text for species.

Grammicolepididae is a small family of deep-sea fishes, called tinselfishes due to their silvery color.

They are related to the dories, and have similar deeply compressed bodies. The largest species, the thorny tinselfish, Grammicolepis brachiusculus, grows up to 64 cm long.

They are found in isolated areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where they inhabit deep waters: they have been found down to about 1,000 m.

[edit] Species

There are three species in three genera:

• Genus Grammicolepis
  • Thorny tinselfish, Grammicolepis brachiusculus Poey, 1873.
• Genus Macrurocyttus
  • Macrurocyttus acanthopodus Fowler, 1934.
• Genus Xenolepidichthys
  • Spotted tinselfish, Xenolepidichthys dalgleishi Gilchrist, 1922.

[edit] References

• "Grammicolepididae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
• Thorny Tinselfish. Australian Museum Fish Site. Retrieved on 30 March 2006.