Phosichthyidae

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Lightfishes
Ichthyococcus ovatus
Ichthyococcus ovatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Stomiiformes
Family: Phosichthyidae
Genera

Ichthyococcus
Phosichthys
Pollichthys
Polymetme
Vinciguerria
Woodsia
Yarrella
See text for species.

Lightfishes are small stomiiform fishes in the family Phosichthyidae[1][2] (spelled Photichthyidae in Nelson[3]).

They are very small fishes found in oceans throughout the world: most species grow no longer than 10 cm, while those in the genus Vinciguerria only reach 4 cm or so.

They make up for their small size with abundant numbers: Vinciguerria is thought — with the possible exception of Cyclothone — to be the most abundant genus of vertebrates. Deep-sea trawls of the Humboldt Current in the southeast Pacific have found that lightfishes make up 85% by mass of mesopelagic fishes, with Vinciguerria lucetia by far the most numerous species.[4]

They are bioluminescent fishes, possessing rows of photophores along their sides, with which they hunt planktonic invertebrates, especially krill.

[edit] Species

There are 24 species in seven genera:

  • Genus Ichthyococcus
    • Ichthyococcus australis Mukhacheva, 1980.
    • Slim lightfish, Ichthyococcus elongatus Imai, 1941.
    • Ichthyococcus intermedius Mukhacheva, 1980.
    • Bulldog lightfish, Ichthyococcus irregularis Rechnitzer & Böhlke, 1958.
    • Ichthyococcus ovatus (Cocco, 1838).
    • Ichthyococcus parini Mukhacheva, 1980.
    • Ichthyococcus polli Blache, 1963.
  • Genus Phosichthys
  • Genus Pollichthys
    • Stareye lightfish, Pollichthys mauli (Poll, 1953).
  • Genus Polymetme
    • Polymetme andriashevi Parin & Borodulina, 1990.
    • Polymetme corythaeola (Alcock, 1898).
    • Polymetme elongata (Imai, 1941).
    • Polymetme illustris McCulloch, 1926.
    • Polymetme surugaensis (Matsubara, 1943).
    • Polymetme thaeocoryla Parin & Borodulina, 1990.
  • Genus Vinciguerria
    • Vinciguerria attenuata (Cocco, 1838).
    • Panama lightfish, Vinciguerria lucetia (Garman, 1899).
    • Vinciguerria mabahiss Johnson & Feltes, 1984.
    • Oceanic lightfish, Vinciguerria nimbaria (Jordan & Williams, 1895).
    • Power's deep-water bristle-mouth fish, Vinciguerria poweriae (Cocco, 1838).
  • Genus Woodsia
    • Woodsia meyerwaardeni Krefft, 1973.
    • Bigeye lightfish, Woodsia nonsuchae (Beebe, 1932).
  • Genus Yarrella
    • Yarrella argenteola (Garman, 1899).
    • Yarrella blackfordi Goode & Bean, 1896.
      Yarrella blackfordi
      Yarrella blackfordi

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Phosichthyidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
  2. ^ Phosichthyidae (TSN 622313). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 29 March 2006.
  3. ^ Joseph S. Nelson (1994). Fishes of the World, 3rd edition. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-54713-1. 
  4. ^ R. Cornejo, R. Koppelmann & T. Sutton. Deep-sea fish diversity and ecology in the benthic boundary layer.