Miraculous fins
The division of living beings into systematics is a continuous subject of research. Different systematic classifications exist side by side and one after the other. The taxon treated here has become obsolete due to new research or is not part of the group systematics presented in the German-language Wikipedia.
As a miracle-finned (Mirapinnidae) a family of rare, only 3.5 to 5.5 centimeters long expectant marine fish was called that in tropical and subtropical areas of the Atlantic , the Indian Ocean and western Pacific occur. Only larvae and juvenile fish were known that live epipelagically in the top 200 meters of the water column. The fish eat zooplankton , especially copepods . They were later recognized as larvae of whale heads .
features
The miracle fins were divided into two subfamilies, the monotypical Mirapinninae and the Eutaeniophorinae. The body of the fish is scaly, that of the Eutaeniophorinae is covered by small papillae 0.05 millimeters long. In Mirapinna esau the papillae are enlarged to hair-like, 1 to 1.5 mm long outgrowths.
The eyes are small but well developed. Head and mouth are medium in size; the mouth does not reach behind the eyes, is slanted or is almost vertical. The teeth are small and stand in a dense row on the intermaxillary bone (premaxillary) and in several rows in the lower jaw. All other jaw, roof and throat bones are toothless. Ribs, luminous organs and a lateral line organ are not present. The fish are transparent or black or brown in color.
The fins do not have hard rays. The dorsal and anal fin are symmetrically opposite each other far back on the body.
Fins formula : dorsal 16–33, anal 14–29, pectoral 13–24, ventral 4–10
The larvae of the Eutaeniophorinae have a ribbon-shaped tail appendage, which in the eel-like elongated Eutaeniophorus festivus can reach more than twice the body length. They were previously described as a separate family, the band bearers (Taeniophoridae).
Systematics
In 2008 the American ichthyologists John R. Paxton and G. David Johnson recognized that the miracle fins must be the larvae of the whale heads (Cetomimidae). So were z. B. the larvae of Cetostoma regani described as " Parataeniophorus gulosus ".
literature
- Joseph S. Nelson: Fishes of the World . John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
- JA Paxton: Mirapinnidae , in The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic . FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. PDF
- K. Deckert, Gisela Deckert , GE Freytag, G. Peters, G. Sterba: Urania animal kingdom, fish, amphibians, reptiles. Urania-Verlag, 1991, ISBN 3-332-00376-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Daniel Lingenhöhl: Make one out of three, revealed extreme gender differences in the deep sea . Wissenschaft-online.de
- ↑ John R. Paxton & G. David Johnson: The cetomimoid conundrum resolved — Whalefishes (Cetomimidae), Tapetails (Mirapinnidae), and Bignose fishes (Megalomycteridae): Amazing larval transformations and striking sexual dimorphism. Contribution to the International Symposium on Systematics and Diversity of Fishes at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo , March 3-4, 2008