Himantolophus groenlandicus
| Himantolophus groenlandicus | ||||||||||||
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Himantolophus groenlandicus |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Himantolophus groenlandicus | ||||||||||||
| Reinhardt , 1837 |
Himantolophus groenlandicus is a deep sea fish from the Himantolophidae family. The species is German, like other representatives of the genus, referred to as "football fish", the English name is "Atlantic footballfish".
Appearance
Like all representatives of the genus, Himantolophus groenlandicus has a balloon-shaped, short body with a smooth surface, the front end is noticeably shortened and rounded. While the female should reach a body length of 60 cm SL , the male remains much smaller with a maximum of 46 millimeters. The largest actually measured female (the holotype from Greenland) was 465 millimeters long. The animals, including the mouth opening, are dark brown to blackish or gray in color. They usually have irregularly shaped, white or lightly pigmented spots on the head and the top of the body.
The mouth is pointed upwards to almost vertical and has small, pointed teeth that sit in several rows. The front of the head has numerous, short wart-like papillae that are compressed into broad lips along the mouth. The relatively short "Angel" (anatomically called Illicium, a transformation of a fin ray of the first dorsal fin) arises from the top of the head above the eyes, it consists of a massive stem and a crown (esca) with many robust, finely branched tentacles. The Esca carries luminous organs ( bioluminescence from symbiotic bacteria), prey organisms attracted by its light are devoured. The surface of the head and body has widely scattered, small round bone plates, each with a short, conical central spine. The fins have soft, pointed but not protruding fin rays. The fin formula is: D 5–6, A 4. The pectoral fins have 14 to 18 fin rays. Fin spines are absent.
The species can only be differentiated from the related species of the genus based on the shape and branching of the Esca.
Distribution and way of life
The species is one of the most frequently captured and most widespread members of the genus. It is given from the north-east, north-west and south-east Atlantic. The southernmost records are found on the American coast in the Gulf of Mexico, finds from the southwest Atlantic off the coast of South America are not known, the species is also missing in the Mediterranean. Information from the Pacific Ocean turned out to be incorrect determinations. It is possible that the species occurs in the western Indian Ocean, there are certain finds here off the coast of the Republic of South Africa.
In European waters, the species was rarely found on the coast of Ireland, off the Norwegian coast and in the Bay of Biscay . It lives with Himantolophus albinares , Himantolophus mauli and Himantolophus melanophus off the south and west coast of Iceland, where the species is the most frequently caught species of the genus . The species is the most northerly recorded species of the genus.
The species is stated to be free swimming (pelagic), the larvae presumably live near the seabed. Females were caught at a depth of 250 to 1,800 meters. In females taken on board a ship, who survived here for about 24 hours, it was observed that the animals, if touched at the rear end, turn around in a flash to have a bite attack. Occasionally, individuals have been found in whale stomachs.
As with the related angler fish, the species is believed to use the Illicium like a fishing rod to attract prey. The luminosity probably acts as “bait”, as light is known to attract many deep-sea organisms. However, actual observations of living specimens in their habitat are not available. Bertelsen and Krefft observed in a still living specimen of the species, drawn from the depths, that it moved the ilicium in a very rapid movement, about six times per minute, in an arc-shaped path through the water, synchronized with the breathing movements of the gill cover. But they couldn't be sure whether the movement was active or passive.
Reproduction
Although the males of this species are much smaller than the females, they do not parasitize on the female. The fertilization is uncertain, no females with fully developed, mature eggs have been caught. The assignment of male animals to the species described after a female is therefore uncertain. Male fish belonging to the genus have been described in the Himantolophus brevirostris species group, which probably corresponds to the groenlandicus species group established on the basis of the females. Which of the species described is actually the male of this species is unknown.
Hazards and protective measures
Since this species is relatively widespread and is only fished occasionally as bycatch, it is listed by the IUCN as a least concern , i.e. not endangered.
Research history
This species is the first deep-sea frogfish to be scientifically described. In 1833, an unknown, unusual-looking fish washed up on the coast of the Greenland capital Nuuk after a severe storm . A Danish captain picked it up and sent it to Johannes Christopher Hagemann Reinhardt, a professor of zoology at the University of Copenhagen. He described the species in 1837. Reinhardt noticed the similarity to fish living in shallow water, such as anglerfish and frogfish , with which he was later combined to form a group called "Pediculati".
Taxonomy and Phylogeny
Himantolophus groenlandicus is the type species of the genus Himantolophus , and thus the (monotypical) family Himantolophidae. Synonyms are Himantolophus reinhardti Lütken, 1878, Corynolophus ranoides Barbour, 1942. Together with six other species of the genus, the species forms the groenlandicus species group.
Individual evidence
- ^ The great world empire of the animals Page: 530-531 Publisher: Planet Media AG, Zug 1992, ISBN 3-8247-8614-1
- ↑ Himantolophus groenlandicus on Fishbase.org (English)
- ↑ James Leonard Brierley Smith, Margaret Mary Smith, Phillip C. Heemstra: Smiths' Sea Fishes. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa, 2003. ISBN 978-1-86872-890-9 .
- ^ Tree of Life web project: Himantolophidae. Himantolophus. Footballfishes. Authored by Theodore W. Pietsch. Version 02, October 2007
- ↑ M. Eric Anderson & Robin W. Leslie (2001): Review of the deep-sea anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) of Southern Africa. Ichthyological Bulletin 70: 1-32.
- ↑ DTG Quigley & K. Flannery (1997): First Record of the Atlantic Football Fish Himantolophus groenlandicus (Reinhardt, 1837) (Pisces: Lophiiformes, Ceratioidea, Himantolophidae) from Irish Waters. Irish Naturalists' Journal 25 (11/12): 442-444.
- ↑ Declan T. Quigley (2014): Ceratioid Anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) in Irish Waters. Sherkin Comment (Environmental Quarterly of Sherkin Island Marine Station) 58: 7.
- Jump up ↑ Gunnar Jónsson & Jónbjörn Pálsson (1999): Fishes of the suborder Ceratioidei (Pisces: Lophiiformes) in Icelandic and adjacent waters. Rit Fiskideildar 16: 197-207.
- ↑ a b c Theodore W. Pietsch: Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea. University of California Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-520-94255-4
- ^ Theodore W. Pietsch (2005): Dimorphism, parasitism, and sex revisited: modes of reproduction among deep-sea ceratioid anglerfishes (Teleostei: Lophiiformes). Ichthyological Research 52: 207-236. doi: 10.1007 / s10228-005-0286-2
- ^ Arnold, R. 2015. Himantolophus groenlandicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T18127836A21910515
