Cyema | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Anguilliformes |
Suborder: | Anguilloidei |
Family: | Cyematidae Regan, 1912 [2] |
Genus: | Cyema Günther, 1878 [3] |
Species: | C. atrum |
Binomial name | |
Cyema atrum Günther, 1878 | |
Cyema is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the monotypic family Cyematidae. The only species in the genus is Cyema atrum, the arrow eel, bobtail eel, bobtail snipe eel or deepwater eel. This species has circumglobal distribution.
Cyema was first proposed as a genus in 1878 by the German-born British ichthyologist Albert Günther when he described its only species Cyema atrum. [3] The type locality of C. atrum was given as the South Pacific from Challenger station 295 from a depths of 1,500 fathoms (9,000 ft; 2,700 m) and the Antarctic Ocean from Challenger station 158 from a depth of 1,800 fathoms (10,800 ft; 3,300 m). [4] In 1912 Charles Tate Regan classified this genus in the family Cyematidae, this genus is the only genus classified in that family. Formerly, the genus Neocyema was classified within this family but it is now classified in the family Neocyematidae. [5] This family is classified within the suborder Anguilloidei of the eel order Anguilliformes. [6]
Cyema is derived from the Greek word kýēma (Gr. κύημα), which means "that which is conceived", in other words and embryo or foetus, an allusion Günther did not explain but it is likely to be an allusion to this taxon having a soft body like that of a leptocephalus. The specific name atrum is the neuter of ater, a Latin word meaning "black", a reference to the plain black colour of this eel. [7]
Cyema has acompressed body with its anus in the middle, the trunk and the tail are of equal length. It has delicate, elongated jaws that resemble the beak of a bird. It has tiny, closley set teeth with recurved points on the jaws and on the vomer. The front nostrils are tubular while the rear nostrils resemble pores, closely set and jus to the front of the eyes. The small gill openings are just under the base of the pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are large, originating just to the rear of the anus, getting taller to the rear and with their rear ends projecting past the caudal fin as a pair of lobes. The caudal fin consists of a small number of small rays. There are no pelvic fins. It is a uniform dark velvety brown pr purplish-black. [8] This species has a maximum published total length of 15 cm (5.9 in), although 13 cm (5.1 in) is more typical. [9]
Cyema is found in all the oceans. In the Atlantic Ocean, it as far north as the waters off southwestern Greenland and at the southern boundary of the Irminger Sea. In the eastern Atlanticis occurs from off the coast of Portugal and Gibraltar west to the Azores and Madeira, south to South Africa. In the western Atlantic, itv occurs from off eastern Canada south to Bermuda, as well as having been recorded off Brazil and Argentina, although it is absent from the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea or the Sargasso Sea. It is also found in the Indian Ocean off Somalia and in the central Indian Ocean extendingg east to Australia and New Zealand. The snipe eel has been recorded off southern Japan and in the Eastern Pacific, from British Columbia and Oregon south to Panama and Chile. [1] It is a Mesopelagic and bathypelagic fish found at depths between 330 and 5,100 m (1,080 and 16,730 ft), typically deeper than 610 m (2,000 ft). [9]
Cyema is a little known fish but it is carnivorous. It is also oviparous and has a leptocephalus larva. [9]
Zoarces is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. It is the only genus in the subfamily Zoarcinae. These eelpouts are found in the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans.
Notacanthidae, the deep-sea spiny eels, are a family of fishes found worldwide below 125 m (410 ft), and as deep as 3,500 m (11,500 ft).
Snipe eels are a family, Nemichthyidae, of eels that consists of nine species in three genera. They are pelagic fishes, found in every ocean, mostly at depths of 300–600 m (980–1,970 ft) but sometimes as deep as 4,000 m (13,000 ft). Depending on the species, adults may reach 1–2 m (39–79 in) in length, yet they weigh only 80–400 g (2.8–14.1 oz). They are distinguished by their very slender jaws that separate toward the tips as the upper jaw curves upward. The jaws appear similar to the beak of the bird called the snipe. Snipe eels are oviparous, and the juveniles, called Leptocephali, do not resemble the adults but have oval, leaf-shaped and transparent bodies. Different species of snipe eel have different shapes, sizes and colors. The similarly named bobtail snipe eel is actually in a different family and represented by two species, the black Cyema atrum and the bright red Neocyema erythrosoma.
Congiopodidae, commonly known as pigfishes, horsefishes and racehorses, is a family of ray-finned fish classified with in the order Perciformes. These fishes are native to the Southern Hemisphere.
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Pholidae is a family of marine ray-finned fishes, known as gunnels, in the scorpaeniform suborder Zoarcoidei. These are fishes of the littoral zone and are mainly found in North Pacific Ocean, with two species found in the North Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes. Most species are found in the North Pacific Ocean with a few in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Neocyema erythrosoma is a species of pelagic fish, a deep-water bobtail snipe eel in the family Cyematidae. It is the only member of its genus, Neocyema. It was first described by Peter Castle in 1978 after two specimens were caught at great depths in the south Atlantic Ocean in 1971. Further specimens have since been caught in the North Atlantic.
The quillfish,, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, it is the only species in the genus Ptilichthys and family Ptilichthyidae. This fish occurs in the northern North Pacific Ocean.
Little velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a family, the Aploactinidae, of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. They are small fish that have skin with a velvet texture. They live on the sea bottom close to the shore, at depths of up to 100 metres (330 ft). They are found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Oneirodidae, the dreamers are a family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. These fishes are deepwater fishes found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, and it is the most diverse family of fishes in the bathypelagic zone.
Zaniolepis, the combfishes, is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, it is one of two genera in the family Zaniolepididae. These fishes are native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Z. frenata that was a source of food to the Native American inhabitants of San Nicolas Island off the coast of southern California, United States during the Middle Holocene.
The whipnose anglers are a family, the Gigantactinidae, of marine ray-finned fishes which is classified within the suborder Ceratioidei, the deep sea anglerfishes. These fishes are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Halieutichthys 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 Atlantic Ocean.
The Artedidraconidae, barbeled plunderfishes, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes, notothenioids belonging to the Perciform suborder Notothenioidei. The family comprises four genera. These fishes are endemic to deep waters off Antarctica.
Dermatias is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Oneirodidae, the dreamers, a family of deep sea anglerfishes. The only species in the genus is Dermatias platynogaster which is known from 4 metamorphosed female specimens collected from 3 widley sparated localities in the Western Pacific Ocean.
Oneirodes is a genus of is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Oneirodidae, the dreamers, a family of deep sea anglerfishes. These predatory, deep-sea fishes are found around the world. This is the type genus, and the most speciose genus, of the family Oneirodidae. They are sexually dimorphic but, like most taxa within their family, the small males are free living and are not sexual parasites on the larger females. Only the females are used to identify the species in this genus as no species specific charaxcters have been found for males.
Prosoproctus is a genus of velvetfish native to the South China Sea where it occurs at depths of from 69 to 82 metres. The only known member of the genus is Prosoproctus pataecus.
Apsilus is a small genus of marine ray-finned fish, snappers belonging to the family Lutjanidae. The two species within the genus are native to the Atlantic Ocean,
Pentapodus emeryii, the double whiptail, purple threadfin bream or blue whiptail, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Nemipteridae, the threadfin breams. This fish occurs in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.