Chaunax

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Chaunax
Chaunax suttkusi.jpg
Chaunax suttkusi
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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.

Contents

Taxonomy

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]

Etymology

Chaunax means "one who gapes", from chanos meaning "to gape", an allusion to the large, wide mouths of these fishes. [6]

Species

There are currently 29 recognized species in this genus: [7]

Characteristics

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]

Distribution and habitat

Chaunax anglerfishes are found in all three oceans of the world, they are benthic fishes which are found at depths between 90 and 2,000 m (300 and 6,560 ft). [14]

Biology

Chaunax coffinfishes are only distantly related to the frogfishes of the family Antennariidae but have an ismilar lifestyle as ambush predators, luring prey to within striking distance of their large mouth with the illicium and esca and useing 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 and this 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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goosefish</span> Family of fishes

Goosefishes, sometimes called anglers or monkfishes, are a family, the Lophiidae, of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. These fishes are found in all the world's oceans except for the Antarctic Ocean.

<i>Lophius</i> Genus of fishes

Members of the genus Lophius, also sometimes called monkfish, fishing-frogs, frog-fish, and sea-devils, are various species of lophiid anglerfishes found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Lophius is known as the "monk" or "monkfish" to the North Sea and North Atlantic fishermen, a name which also belongs to Squatina squatina, the angelshark, a type of shark. The North European species is Lophius piscatorius, and the Mediterranean species is Lophius budegassa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea toad</span> Family of fishes

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ogcocephalidae</span> Family of fishes (anglerfish)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink frogmouth</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starry handfish</span> Species of fish

The starry handfish, starry seabat or minipizza batfish, is species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep-sea batfishes or seabats. This fish is found on the continental shelves of the Indo-Pacific oceans at depths of between 50 and 400 m. They are up to 30 cm long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrabrachiidae</span> Family of fishes

Tetrabrachiidae, or the four-armed frogfishes or doublefin frogfishes, is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Antennarioidei in the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. These fishes are found in relatively shallow waters of the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redeye gaper</span> Species of fish

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.

<i>Halieutopsis</i> Genus of fishes

Halieutopsis is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes beloning to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep sea batfishes. The species in this genus are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

<i>Coelophrys</i> Genus of fishes

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.

<i>Halieutaea</i> Genus of fishes

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.

<i>Antennarius</i> Genus of fishes

Antennarius is a genus of anglerfish belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The fishes in this genus are found in warmer parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

<i>Chaunacops</i> Genus of fishes

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.

<i>Lophiodes</i> Genus of fishes

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Painted frogfish</span> Species of fish

The painted frogfish, or spotted frogfish, black angler or painted anglerfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furry coffinfish</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Histiophryninae</span> Subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes

Histiophryninae, the star-fingered frogfishes, is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The species in this family are found in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.

<i>Chaunax suttkusi</i> Species of fish

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.

<i>Halieutaea indica</i> Species of fish

Halieutaea indica, the Indian batfish, Indian handfish or Indian seabat, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ogcocephalidae, the deep sea batfishes. The Indian batfish has a wide Indo-West Pacific distribution.

References

  1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Chaunacidae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Chaunax". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  3. Theodore W Pietsch (2022). "Order Lophiiformes". In Phillip C Heemstra; Elaine Heemstra; David A Ebert; Wouter Holleman; John E Randall (eds.). Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean (PDF). Vol. 2. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. pp. 281–307. ISBN   978-1-990951-29-9.
  4. Ho, H.-C. and W.-C. Ma (2022). "Four new species of the frogmouth genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) from Taiwan and the Philippines". Zootaxa. 5189 (1): 146–179. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5189.1.17.
  5. Nelson, J.S.; Grande, T.C.; Wilson, M.V.H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 508–518. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN   978-1-118-34233-6. LCCN   2015037522. OCLC   951899884. OL   25909650M.
  6. Christopher Scharpf (14 November 2022). "Order LOPHIIFORMES (part 1): Families LOPHIIDAE, ANTENNARIIDAE, TETRABRACHIIDAE, LOPHICHTHYIDAE, BRACHIONICHTHYIDAE, CHAUNACIDAE and OGCOCEPHALIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  7. 1 2 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2024). Species of Chaunax in FishBase . February 2024 version.
  8. 1 2 Ho, Hsuan-Ching; Last, Peter R. (2013). "Two new species of the coffinfish genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) from the Indian Ocean". Zootaxa. 3710 (5): 436–448. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3710.5.3 .
  9. 1 2 3 Ho, Hsuan-Ching; Kawai, T.; Satria, F. (2015). "Species of the anglerfish genus Chaunax from Indonesia, with descriptions of two new species (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae)" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 63: 301–308. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  10. 1 2 3 Ho, Hsuan-Ching; Ma, Wen-Chun (2016). "Revision of southern African species of the anglerfish genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae), with descriptions of three new species". Zootaxa. 4144 (2): 175–194. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4144.2.2 .
  11. 1 2 3 4 Ho, Hsuan-Ching; Roberts, Clive D.; Stewart, Andrew L. (2013). "A review of the anglerfish genus Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) from New Zealand and adjacent waters, with descriptions of four new species". Zootaxa. 3620 (1): 89–111. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3620.1.4 .
  12. Ho, Hsuan-Ching; Meleppura, Rajeesh Kumar; Bineesh, K. K. (2016). "Chaunax multilepis sp. nov., a new species of Chaunax (Lophiiformes: Chaunacidae) from the northern Indian Ocean". Zootaxa. 4103 (2): 130–136. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4103.2.3. PMID   27394623.
  13. "Genus: Chaunax, Frogmouths, Gaper, Gapers". Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute . Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  14. John H. Caruso (1989). "Systematics and Distribution of the Atlantic Chaunacid Anglerfishes (Pisces: Lophiiformes)". Copeia. 1989 (1): 153–165. doi:10.2307/1445616.
  15. Bray, D.J. (2022). "Coffinfishes, CHAUNACIDAE". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  16. Meilan Solly (1 July 2019). "Coffinfish Can Hold Their Breath for Up to Four Minutes on the Ocean Floor". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 5 May 2024.