Bathydraconidae

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Antarctic dragonfishes
Cygnodraco mawsoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Suborder: Notothenioidei Family: Bathydraconidae
Genera
Acanthodraco Akarotaxis Bathydraco Cygnodraco Gerlachea Gymnodraco Parachaenichthys Prionodraco Psilodraco Racovitzia Vomeridens See text for species.

The Antarctic dragonfishes are a family, Bathydraconidae, of deep-sea perciform fishes.^[1][2]

They are benthopelagic fishes found in Antarctic waters. They are not fished commercially and little is known about them.^[3]

[edit] Species

There are seventeen described species in eleven genera:

• Genus Acanthodraco
  • Acanthodraco dewitti Skóra, 1995.
• Genus Akarotaxis
  • Akarotaxis nudiceps (Waite, 1916).
• Genus Bathydraco
  • Bathydraco antarcticus Günther, 1878.
  • Bathydraco joannae DeWitt, 1985.
  • Bathydraco macrolepis Boulenger, 1907.
  • Deepwater dragon, Bathydraco marri Norman, 1938.
  • Bathydraco scotiae Dollo, 1906.
• Genus Cygnodraco
  • Cygnodraco mawsoni Waite, 1916.
• Genus Gerlachea
  • Gerlachea australis Dollo, 1900.
• Genus Gymnodraco
  • Gymnodraco acuticeps Boulenger, 1902.
• Genus Parachaenichthys
  • Parachaenichthys charcoti (Vaillant, 1906).
  • Parachaenichthys georgianus (Fischer, 1885).
• Genus Prionodraco
  • Prionodraco evansii Regan, 1914.
• Genus Psilodraco
  • Psilodraco breviceps Norman, 1937.
• Genus Racovitzia
  • Racovitzia glacialis Dollo, 1900.
  • Racovitzia harrissoni (Waite, 1916).
• Genus Vomeridens
  • Vomeridens infuscipinnis (DeWitt, 1964).

Molecular data support the split of bathydraconids into three clades: Bathydraconinae (Bathydraco, Prionodraco, Racovitzia), Gymnodraconinae (Gymnodraco, Psilodraco, Acanthodraco), and Cygnodraconinae (Cygnodraco, Gerlachea, Parachaenichthys).^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ "Bathydraconidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
2. ^ Bathydraconidae (TSN 171110). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 20 March 2006.
3. ^ Andrzej Kompowski. "Studies on Psilodraco breviceps Norman, 1937 (Pisces, Nototheniodei, Bathydraconidae) from the region of South Georgia" (^{[dead link]}). Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria. 
4. ^ N. Derome, W. J. Chen, A. Dettai, C. Bonillo, G. Lecointre (2002). "Phylogeny of Antarctic dragonfishes (Bathydraconidae, Notothenioidei, Teleostei) and related families based on their anatomy and two mitochondrial genes". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 24 (1): 139–152. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00223-3.