Nototheniidae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cod icefishes
Antarctic toothfish in McMurdo Sound
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Suborder: Notothenioidei Family: Nototheniidae
Genera
Aethotaxis Cryothenia Dissostichus Gobionotothen Gvozdarus Lepidonotothen Notothenia Pagothenia Paranotothenia Patagonotothen Pleuragramma Trematomus See text for species.

The cod icefishes are a family, Nototheniidae, of Perciform fishes, containing about 50 species in 12 genera. They are largely found in the Southern Ocean and off the coast of Antarctica. As the dominant Antarctic fish taxa, they occupy both sea bottom and water column ecological niches. Although lacking a gas bladder, they have undergone a depth-related diversification, such as increase in fatty tissues and reduced mineralization of the bones, resulting in a body density approaching neutral, to fill a variety of water column niches. It is thought that the spleen may be used to remove ice crystals from circulating blood. As the chilly subantarctic waters averages –1 to 4 degrees Celsius, most Antarctic species have antifreeze glycoproteins in their blood and other body fluids.

Some species exhibit polymorphism, for example, the circum-Antarctic Trematomus newnesi exists as two morphs in the Ross Sea, the typical morph and a large mouth/broad headed morph.

As the major fish resource in the Southern Ocean, nototheniids are under increasing pressure from commercial fishing.

[edit] Classification

• Genus Aethotaxis
  • Aethotaxis mitopteryx
• Genus Cryothenia
  • Cryothenia amphitreta
  • Cryothenia peninsulae
• Genus Dissostichus
  • Patagonian toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides
  • Antarctic cod, Dissostichus mawsoni
• Genus Gobionotothen
  • Gobionotothen acuta
  • Gobionotothen barsukovi
  • Gobionotothen gibberifrons
  • Gobionotothen marionensis
• Genus Gvozdarus
  • Gvozdarus svetovidovi
• Genus Lepidonotothen
  • Lepidonotothen kempi
  • Lepidonotothen larseni
  • Lepidonotothen macrophthalma
  • Lepidonotothen mizops
  • Lepidonotothen nudifrons
  • Lepidonotothen squamifrons
• Genus Notothenia
  • Notothenia angustata – Maori chief
  • Notothenia coriiceps – Black rockcod
  • Notothenia cyanobrancha – Blue rockcod
  • Notothenia microlepidota – Black cod, Small-scaled cod
  • Notothenia neglecta – Yellowbelly rockcod (often included in N. coriiceps)
  • Notothenia rossii – Marbled rockcod
  • Notothenia trigramma (Validity doubtful)
• Genus Pagothenia
  • Pagothenia borchgrevinki
  • Pagothenia brachysoma
• Genus Paranotothenia
  • Paranotothenia dewitti
  • Maori cod, Maori chief, black cod, Magellanic rockcod, blue notothenia or orange throat notothen, Paranotothenia magellanica (Forster, 1801)
• Genus Patagonotothen (all non-Antarctic)
  • Patagonotothen brevicauda
  • Patagonotothen canina
  • Patagonotothen cornucola
  • Patagonotothen elegans
  • Patagonotothen guntheri
  • Patagonotothen jordani
  • Patagonotothen kreffti
  • Patagonotothen longipes
  • Patagonotothen ramsayi
  • Patagonotothen sima
  • Patagonotothen squamiceps
  • Patagonotothen tessellata
  • Patagonotothen thompsoni
  • Patagonotothen wiltoni
• Genus Pleuragramma
  • Antarctic silverfish, Pleuragramma antarcticum
• Genus Trematomus
  • Trematomus bernacchii
  • Trematomus eulepidotus
  • Trematomus hansoni
  • Trematomus lepidorhinus
  • Trematomus loennbergii
  • Trematomus newnesi
  • Trematomus nicolai
  • Trematomus pennellii
  • Trematomus scotti
  • Trematomus tokarevi
  • Trematomus vicarius

[edit] References

• "Nototheniidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. November 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
• New species Cryothenia amphitreta