Chaunax | |
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Chaunax suttkusi | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Lophiiformes |
Family: | Chaunacidae |
Genus: | Chaunax R. T. Lowe, 1846 |
Type species | |
Chaunax pictus R. T. Lowe, 1846 |
Chaunax, variously known as coffinfishes, gapers, or frogmouths, is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes. It is one of two genera belonging to the family Chaunacidae, the sea toads. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans around the world, typically in deep water.
Chaunax was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1846 by the English naturalist Richard Thomas Lowe when he described Chaunax pictus [1] as a new species from Madeira. [2] There are three species groups within the genus: C. pictus, containing 3 species; C. abei, containing 17 species; and C. fimbriatus, containing 9 species. [3] [4] This genus is classified within the family Chaunacidae, the sea toads, one of two genera in that family. The sea toads are placed within the monotypic suborder Chaunacoidei within the anglerfish order Lophiiformes. [5]
Chaunax means "one who gapes", from chanos meaning "to gape", an allusion to the large, wide mouths of these fishes. [6]
There are currently 29 recognized species in this genus: [7]
Chaunax sea toads have a rotund, slightly laterally flattened body which tapers to a small rounded caudal fin. The head is large and globelike with a large oblique mouth and eyes set high on the head. The eyes are covered in transparent skin, resembling a window. The teeth in the mouth are vertical, small, thin, and sharp. There is a single visible dorsal spine, the illicium, which is relatively short, sits in an oval-shaped depression on the snout, and is tipped with a tuft of filaments, the esca, or lure. The two other dorsal spines are embedded in the skin. The dorsal fin is located on the rear of the body and is supported by 10 or 12 soft rays, while the anal fin contains 6 or 7 soft rays. The loose, flabby skin has a dense covering of very small denticles. The lateral line is open and runs from the caudal peduncle to the head, with obvious canals connecting to branches under the eye, on the chin, and along the lower flanks. The main part of the lateral line on the upper body contains between 29 and 42 pores, with between 11 and 13 pores on the head. [13] These are mostly rather small species, with the largest being C. picus, with a maximum published total length of 40 cm (16 in), while the smallest is C. breviradius, which has a maximum published standard length of 11 cm (4.3 in). [7]
Chaunax anglerfishes are found in all three oceans of the world. They are benthic fishes, found at depths between 90 and 2,000 m (300 and 6,560 ft). [14]
Chaunax coffinfishes are only distantly related to the frogfishes of the family Antennariidae but have a similar lifestyle as ambush predators, luring prey to within striking distance of their large mouth with the illicium and esca, and using their pectoral and pelvic fins to walk along the bottom. [15] At least one species, C. endeavouri, has been observed inflating its gill chambers by holding onto water. The retained water can inflate their gill chambers so that their bodies become as much as 30% larger, and this water can be retained for lengths of time from 26 seconds up to 4 minutes. These deep-water ambush predators rely on prey coming close enough to strike, which can be infrequent, so the ability to hold water in the gills for longer may be an adaptation to preserve energy while breathing, as well as possibly being a defence against predators. However, the fishes cannot keep the water within the gill chambers if bitten by a predator. [16]
Goosefishes, sometimes called anglers or monkfishes, are a family, the Lophiidae, of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. The family includes 30 recognized species. These fishes are found in all the world's oceans except for the Antarctic Ocean.
The sea toads and coffinfishes are a family, the Chaunacidae, of deep-sea ray-finned fishes belonging to the monotypic suborder Chaunacoidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. These are bottom-dwelling fishes found on the continental slopes of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, at depths to at least 2,460 m (8,070 ft). There have also been findings of deep-sea anglerfishes off the coasts of Australia and New Caledonia. Other findings suggest some genera of Chaunacidae are found near volcanic slopes encrusted with manganese. Of the two genera in the family, Chaunacops are typically found at deeper depths than Chaunax, but with considerable overlap between the two genera.
Double anglers, the family Diceratiidae, is a small and little known family of rarely encountered marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. The two genera and seven species of this family are found in the deeper waters of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are distinguished from other deep sea anglerfishes by the possession of a second bioluminescent cephalic spine. The fishes in this family were known only from metamorphosed females and the males were not described until 1983.
Ogcocephalidae is a family of anglerfish specifically adapted for a benthic lifestyle of crawling about on the seafloor. Ogcocephalid anglerfish are sometimes referred to as batfishes, deep-sea batfishes, handfishes, and seabats. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. They are mostly found at depths between 200 and 3,000 m, but have been recorded as deep as 4,000 m (13,000 ft). A few species live in much shallower coastal waters and, exceptionally, may enter river estuaries.
The pink frogmouth, or redeye, pink gaper or uniform gaper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Chaunacidae, the sea toads. This species is found in the Atlantic Ocean.
The redeye gaper, Chaunax stigmaeus, is a sedentary species of anglerfish in the family Chaunacidae. It is native to deep waters in the western North Atlantic from the Georges Bank off New England southward to the Blake Plateau off South Carolina. The species is found on the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope at a depth of 90–730 m and among dense beds of dead coral rubble, their preferred habitat. The original type specimen was caught in a trawl off Atlantic City on March 1, 1946, and donated to the Academy of Natural Sciences by Carroll B. Atkinson. The name stigmaeus means "speckled" in Greek. This species is a member of the C. pictus species complex.
Histiophryne is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the subfamily Histiophryninae in the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. These fishes are found in waters ranging from Taiwan to South Australia. There are currently five known species. These fishes are easily distinguished from other anglerfishes as having a reduced luring appendage, a highly evolved form of the first dorsal fin spine.
Malthopsis, the gnome batfishes or triangular batfishes, is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep sea batfishes. The triangular batfishes are distributed throughout the warmer waters of the world, although they are absent from the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. The genus was originally proposed in 1891 by the British naturalist Alfred W. Alcock.
Coelophrys is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep-sea batfishes or sea bats. The fishes in this genus are found in the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
Halieutaea is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep sea batfishes. These fishes are found in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.
Bufoceratias is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Diceratiidae, the double anglers. Fishes in this genus are found in the Indian, Pacific and Western Atlantic Oceans.
Bufoceratias wedli is a species of deep sea marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Diceratiidae, the double anglers. This anglerfish is found in deep water over the continental shelf in the tropical and subtropical areas of the Eastern and Western Atlantic Oceans. It is the type species of the genus Bufoceratias and like other members of that genus is known only from adult females, the unknown males are thought to be free living rather than sexual parasites of the females like those of some other deep sea anglerfishes.
Chaunacops is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Chaunacidae, the sea toads. This genus of deep-sea anglerfishes contains 4 species and these are found in the Indo-West Pacific, southeastern Pacific and western Atlantic oceans. Little is known about the life history and biology of these fishes.
Diceratias is a genus of deep sea marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Diceratiidae, the double anglers. These fishes are found in the Eastern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.
Lophiodes is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Lophiidae, the goosefishes, monkfishes and anglers. It is one of four extant genera in the family Lophiidae. The fish in this genus are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The furry coffinfish, also sometimes referred to the coffinfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Chaunacidae, the sea toads. It is found in salty temperate waters of southwestern Pacific, off east coast of Australia.
Halieutichthys bispinosus, the two-spine batfish or spiny batfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep sea batfishes or seabats. This species is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
Chaunax suttkissi, the pale-cavity gaper, spotted frogmouth, spotted gaper or Sutkus sea toad, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Chaunacidae, the sea toads. This species is found in the Atlantic Ocean.
Chaenophryne melanorhabdus is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Oneirodidae, the dreamers, a family of deep-sea anglerfishes. This predatory, deep-sea fish is found in the Pacific Ocean. Like other deep-sea anglerfishes, dreamers are sexually dimorphic, with the matamorphosed females dwarfing the metamorphosed males. The males are not sexual parasites.
Malthopsis bradburyae, Bradbury's triangular batfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep-sea batfishes. This little known species is found in the western Indian Ocean off Tanzania and is named in honour of the American ichthyologist Margaret G. Bradbury.