| Polyipnus Temporal range: Early Oligocene to Present |
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|---|---|
| Threelight Hatchetfish (Polyipnus triphanos) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Subclass: | Neopterygii |
| Order: | Stomiiformes |
| Family: | Sternoptychidae |
| Subfamily: | Sternoptychinae |
| Genus: | Polyipnus Günther, 1887 |
| Diversity | |
| 32 species | |
Polyipnus is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus which belongs in the family Sternoptychidae. This is the largest genus of the marine hatchetfishes (Sternoptychinae) and indeed of the entire Sternoptychidae. It is not quite as apomorphic as their relatives; it may be that the genus is actually a paraphyletic assemblage of less advanced Sternoptychinae and would need to be split.
32 living species are placed in Polyipnus:[1]
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Fossils of this genus show that they have existed at least since the Early Oligocene, about 30 million years ago.[2]