Phyllorhinichthys

Taxobox
name = "Phyllorhinichthys"


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Lophiiformes
familia = Oneirodidae
genus = "Phyllorhinichthys"
genus_authority = Pietsch, 1969
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
*"P. balushkini"
*"P. micractis"

"Phyllorhinichthys" is a genus of deep-sea anglerfish in the dreamer family, Oneirodidae, with two species. Like other oneirodids, they are small, bathypelagic fish with bioluminescent lures.FishBase genus | genus=Phyllorhinichthys | year=2008 | month=October] "Phyllorhinichthys" is unique amongst the deep-sea anglerfish in having a pair of fleshy, leaf-like structures on its snout.

Distribution

"P. micractis" has been collected from all three major oceans from a maximum depth of 3500 meters, ranging from near Newfoundland and Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean, to the Horn of Africa in the Indian Ocean, to Japan and the Line Islands in the Pacific Ocean. "P. balushkini" has only been collected in the Atlantic Ocean, ranging from the north to the tropics from a maximum depth of 3200 meters.

Description

Adult female "Phyllorhinichthys" have a short, somewhat globulose body, entirely dark brown to black in color. In smaller specimens (8.8-18.3 mm), there is a distinct band of melanophores on the caudal peduncle. The mouth is small and oblique, with slender, depressible teeth; the teeth are slightly larger but fewer in the lower jaw. The illicium ("fishing rod") is short; the escal bulb ("lure") is internally pigmented on the upper half and unpigmented on the lower, and bears internally pigmented appendages with silvery tips. The most distinctive feature of the genus are a pair of translucent leaf-like flaps on the snout, forward of the eyes and flanking the esca. Each flap has a central opaque nerve fiber running from the base to the tip. In some specimens, there is another, smaller pair of similar flaps placed above the main pair. Males and larvae have yet to be encountered.cite journal | author=Pietsch, Theodore W. | title=Revision of the Deep-Sea Anglerfish Genus "Phyllorhinichthys" Pietsch (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei: Oneirodidae), with the Description of a New Species from the Atlantic Ocean | journal=Copeia | volume=2004 | issue=4 | pages=797–803 | date=July 2, 2004 | url=http://uwfishcollection.org/Staff/Phyllorhinichthys.pdf | accessdate=2008-10-10]

pecies

The two species of "Phyllorhinichthys" are differentiated by the length of the illicium and details of the esca.

*"Phyllorhinichthys balushkini" Pietsch, 2004 The illicium is longer than that of "P. micractis". The esca bears a single forward appendage containing a pair of internal light-guiding tubes that diverge from each other at the tip. The rear escal appendage is extremely long, measuring over half the length of the fish, covered with dark skin and ending in a pair of translucent bulbs. The snout flaps are relatively small. The largest known female measured 14.5 cm long. [FishBase species | genus=Phyllorhinichthys | species=balushkini | year=2008 | month=October]

*"Phyllorhinichthys micractis" Pietsch, 1969 The illicium is shorter than that of "P. balushkini". The esca has two forward appendages at the tip and the rear appendage is much shorter and stouter than that of "P. balushkini". The available specimens vary in the number and presence of additional appendages and filaments. The size of the snout flaps are also highly variable. The largest known female measured 12 cm long. [FishBase species | genus=Phyllorhinichthys | species=micractis | year=2008 | month=October]

References