Chiasmodontidae

Chiasmodontidae Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Black swallower, Chiasmodon niger
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Scombriformes
Suborder:	Scombroidei
Family:	Chiasmodontidae T. N. Gill, 1883
Genera [1]
Chiasmodon Dysalotus Kali Pseudoscopelus † Bannikovichthys

The Chiasmodontidae, snaketooth fishes or swallowers, are a family of deep-sea predatory ray-finned fishes, part of the order Scombriformes, that are found in all oceans.

As suggested by their common name, they are characterized by their ability to engulf prey larger than themselves, due to their highly distensible stomachs. ^[2]

Taxonomy

They are closely related to tunas & mackerels (Scombridae), with both families belonging to the suborder Scombroidei. ^{[3] [4]} They were formerly placed in the paraphyletic group "Trachinoidei". ^[2]

Genera

The following genera are known:

• Chiasmodon Johnson, 1864
• Dysalotus MacGilchrist, 1905
• Kali Lloyd, 1909
• Pseudoscopelus Lütken, 1892

In addition, the extinct fossil genus † Bannikovichthys Carnevale, 2007 is known from the Middle Miocene (Serravallian) of Italy. This genus appears to be more basal than the extant genera. ^{[4] [5]} Another species that was previously assigned to this family, "Pseudoscopelus grossheimi" from the Early Oligocene, is now known to be an early crocodile toothfish, Champsodon grossheimi Daniltshenko, 1960. ^[5]

Pseudoscopelus scriptus

References

1. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Chiasmodontidae". FishBase . February 2013 version.
2. "Swallower | fish | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2025-02-26.
3. Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
4. Near, Thomas J.; Thacker, Christine E. (2024-04-18). "Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 65 (1). doi:10.3374/014.065.0101. ISSN   0079-032X.
5. Carnevale, Giorgio (2007). "Fossil fishes from the Serravallian (Middle Miocene) of Torricella Peligna, Italy". Palaeontographia Italica (91): 1–67.

Sources

• "Chiasmodontidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 25 March 2006.
• Melo, M. R. S. (2009). Revision of the Genus Chiasmodon (Acanthomorpha: Chiasmodontidae), with the Description of Two New Species. Copeia, 2009(3), 583–608.
• Rodrigues-Oliviera, I., Pasa, R., Menegidio, F., & Kavalco, K. (2022, June 24). Characterization of six new complete mitochondrial genomes of Chiasmodontidae (Scombriformes, Percomorpha) and considerations about the phylogenetic relationships of the family.