Crested fish

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Crested fish
Lophotus lacepede

Lophotus lacepede

Systematics
Overcohort : Clupeocephala
Cohort : Euteleosteomorpha
Sub-cohort : Neoteleostei
Acanthomorphata
Order : Lampriformes (Lampriformes)
Family : Crested fish
Scientific name
Lophotidae
Bonaparte , 1846

The crested fish (Lophotidae), also called crested heads or unicorn fish , are a family of glossy fish-like (Lampriformes). The four 1.5 to 2 meter long species live pelagic in all oceans.

features

The elongated, ribbon-shaped fish have a long dorsal fin that encompasses the entire body length with 220 to 392 fin rays . The anal fin, supported by 5 to 20 fin rays, is tiny and is located just in front of the small, normally formed caudal fin . Ventral fins are absent or have two to six rays. The body is covered with small cycloid scales. A three-chamber swim bladder is available. The first is thick-walled and equipped with gas glands and a rete mirabile , the two following are very long, thin-walled and lie on both sides of the ink sack, which contains an ink-like, musty-smelling liquid that the crested fish like squid in case of danger and when caught from the cesspool eject.

Systematics

Eumecichthys fiski

The crested fish are divided into two genera :

The extinct genus Protolophotus is known from the lower Oligocene of Iran .

literature

  • Joseph S. Nelson , Fishes of the World , John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
  • Kurt Fiedler: Textbook of Special Zoology, Volume II, Part 2: Fish . Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6 .
  • BB Collette: Order Lampriformes , 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. Full text online

Web links

Commons : Skoppers (Lophotidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files