Northern ronquil

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Northern ronquil
Ronquilus jordani.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Bathymasteridae
Genus: Ronquilus
D. S. Jordan & Starks, 1895
Species:
R. jordani
Binomial name
Ronquilus jordani
Synonyms [1]
  • Bathymaster jordaniGilbert, 1889

The northern ronquil (Ronquilus jordani) is species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. This species is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. This species is the only known member of its genus.

Contents

Taxonomy

The stripedfin ronquil was first formally described as Bathymaster jordani in 1889 by the American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert with the type locality given as Puget Sound in Washington. [2] When David Starr Jordan and Edwin Chapin Starks proposed the monotypic genus Ronquilus they designated this species as its type species. [3] The genus is classified in the family Bathymasteridae which is in the Scorpaeniform suborder Zoarcoidei. [4]

Etymology

The genus name is an anglicization from the Spanish word ronco, ronquillo being a diminutive, and which means “one who grunts”, although Jordan and Starks did not mention croaking. The specific name jordani honors David Starr Jordan who, with Gilbert, first identified this species in Puget Sound. [5]

Description

The northern ronquil is a small, cylindrical ichthyoplankton with brown to gray head, and two yellow bands on cheek. The body is gray with dark spots near pale or pale-yellow fins. This species can be distinguished from other members of the Bathymaster family by its cheek scales and the absence of some features in the cephalic lateralis system. [6] This species has a maximum published total length of 20 cm (7.9 in). [1]

Distribution and habitat

The northern ronquil is found in the northern Pacific Ocean from the eastern Aleutian Islands at Unimak Pass south to southern California, although it seems to be rare off California. Reports from elsewhere in the northern Pacific require to be verified. [6] The adults are primarily benthic (bottom-dwelling) along rocky continental shelf and upper slope waters of the north-eastern Pacific Ocean. However, larvae and juveniles are considered neustonic, and occupy waters closer to the surface. This is thought to be beneficial due to increased growth in the warmer surface water and reduced predation at shallower depth. [7] The life cycle and habitat preference of the Northern ronquil is subject to ongoing research.

Related Research Articles

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Ronquils is a small family marine ray-finned fish, the Bathymasteridae. These fishes are found only in Arctic and North Pacific waters. This family contains just seven species in three genera. The larger species are important to commercial fisheries as food fish. Ronquils are most closely related to the eelpouts and prowfish in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes.

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

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

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

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stripedfin ronquil</span> Species of fish

The stripedfin ronquil, also known as the bluebanded ronquil, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. This fish is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

<i>Bathymaster signatus</i> Species of fish

Bathymaster signatus, the searcher, is species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. This species is found in the northern Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoarcoidei</span> Suborder of fishes

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<i>Anarhichas</i> Genus of fishes

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<i>Cryptacanthodes</i> Genus of fishes

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<i>Ernogrammus</i> Genus of fishes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longfin sculpin</span> Genus of fishes

The longfin sculpin is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Jordaniidae, a small family of sculpins. This species is found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. This species is the only known member of its genus, Jordania.

<i>Ereunias</i> Species of fish

Ereunias is a monotypic genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Rhamphocottidae, the grunt sculpins. Its only species is Ereunias grallator which is a bathydemersal species found at depths of around 500 m (1,600 ft) in the northwestern Pacific Ocean off Japan. This species attains a maximum published total length of 30 cm (12 in). This species was first formally described in 1901 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and John Otterbein Snyder from Misaki, Sagami in Japan. Jordan and Snyder proposed the new genus Ereunias for the new species. The genus name is derived from ereunao, meaning "to explore" which may refer how it uses elongated pectoral-fin rays as feelers or “feet” to explore the substrate; suffixed with ias which is used in some Greek names for fishes. The specific name grallator is "stiltwalker" in Latin and is an allusion to the elongated pectoral fin rays. Along with the genus Marukawichthys this taxon was classified in the family Ereunidae but this was synonymised with the Rhamphocottidae in 2014.

<i>Bathymaster</i> Genus of fishes

Bathymaster is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean.

<i>Rathbunella</i> Genus of fishes

Rathbunella is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathymasteridae, the ronquils. These fishes are found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The stippled gunnel is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Pholidae, the gunnels. It is the only species in the monospecific genus Rhodymenichthys. It is found in the northern North Pacific Ocean.

The kelp gunnel is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Pholidae, the gunnels. It is the only species in the monospecific genus Ulvicola. It is found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.

Eulophiidae, the spinous eelpouts, is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Stichaeopsis is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies. These fishes are found in the western North Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opisthocentrinae</span> Subfamily of fishes

Opisthocentrinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes, classified within the family Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean.

References

  1. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Ronquilus jordani" in FishBase. February 2022 version.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Ronquilus". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  3. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Bathymasteridae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  4. J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 478–482. ISBN   978-1-118-34233-6.
  5. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (4 July 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 11): Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Families: Anarhichadidae, Neozoarcidae, Eulophias, Stichaeidae, Lumpenidae, Ophistocentridae, Pholidae, Ptilichthyidae, Zaproridae, Cryptacanthodidae, Cebidichthyidae, Scytalinidae and Bathymasteridae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  6. 1 2 Stevenson, Duane; Ann C. Matarese (2005). "The ronquils: a review of the North Pacific fish family Bathymasteridae (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Zoarcoidei)". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 118: 367–406. doi:10.2988/0006-324X(2005)118[367:TRAROT]2.0.CO;2.
  7. Doyle, Miriam (1992). "NEUSTONIC ICHTHYOPLANKTON IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF THE CALIFORNIA CURRENT ECOSYSTEM". California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations. 33: 141–161.