Deep sea hatchet

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Deep sea hatchet
Argyropelecus aculeatus

Argyropelecus aculeatus

Systematics
Subclass : Real bony fish (Teleostei)
Overcohort : Clupeocephala
Cohort : Euteleosteomorpha
Sub-cohort : Stomiati
Order : Maulstachler (Stomiiformes)
Family : Deep sea hatchet
Scientific name
Sternoptychidae
Gill , 1863

The deep-sea hatchet fish (Sternoptychidae, Greek "sternon" = breast, "ptyxychos" = fold), also called silver hatchet fish , are a family of deep sea fish from the order of the mouth spined (Stomiiformes) living in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian Oceans .

features

Deep-sea hatchetfish grow to be 2 to 14 centimeters long. They have a plump body with a clearly separated tail stalk (strongly pronounced in the Sternoptychinae subfamily , hence the common name of the entire family), an upper mouth and upward-pointing eyes. There are light organs on the underside of the body . The number of branchiostegal rays is 6 to 10. A pseudobranch , which is reduced or has been lost in most other mouth spines, is present in the deep-sea axfish. The adipose fin is small. Scales are missing or easily fall off. In dying deep-sea axfish, the light organs glow for a long time. Their eggs are planktonic and are kept in suspension by embedded oil droplets.

Systematics

There are over 70 species in ten genera and two subfamilies.

Subfamily Maurolicinae

The body is elongated and never strongly compressed on the sides. Fin formula : anal fin 19–38. The taxon may be paraphyletic .

  • Araiophos
Argyripnus iridescens

Subfamily Sternoptychinae

Argyropelecus olfersii
Polyipnus asteroides
Polyipnus spinosus
Polyipnus tridentifer
Polyipnus triphanos
Sternoptyx diaphana

The body is short, laterally strongly flattened and deep, the mouth is almost vertical, sometimes telescopic eyes are formed. Fin formula : dorsal fin 8–17, anal fin 11–19.

literature

Web links

Commons : Deep-sea hatchetfish (Sternoptychidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files