Tetrapturus | |
---|---|
Mediterranean spearfish (T. belone) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Istiophoriformes |
Family: | Istiophoridae |
Genus: | Tetrapturus Rafinesque, 1810 |
Type species | |
Tetrapturus belone Rafinesque, 1810 | |
Synonyms | |
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Tetrapturus is a genus of marlins commonly called spearfish, found in tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world. Some are popular sport fish in big-game fishing.
There are currently four recognized species in this genus: [1]
Fossil relatives of spearfishes include Prototetrapturus from the Late Miocene of Algeria, and both Pizzikoskerma & Sicophasma from the late Miocene of Italy. All are placed in the clade Tetrapturomorpha. [2] [3]
The bullhead sharks are members of the genus Heterodontus, the only members of the family Heterodontidae and only living members of the order Heterodontiformes. All are relatively small, with the largest species reaching just 1.65 metres (5.5 ft) in maximum length. They are bottom feeders in tropical and subtropical waters.
Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes 11 species.
Carcharodon is a genus of sharks within the family Lamnidae, colloquially called the "white sharks." The only extant member is the great white shark. The extant species was preceded by a number of fossil (extinct) species including C. hubbelli and C. hastalis. The first appearance of the genus may have been as early as the Early Miocene or Late Oligocene.
The white marlin, also known as Atlantic white marlin, marlin, skilligalee, is a species of billfish that lives in the epipelagic zone of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. They are found between the latitudes of 45° N and 45° S in waters deeper than 100 m. Even though white marlin are found in bodies of water that are deeper than 100 m they tend to stay near the surface. White marlin have been found near banks, shoals, and canyons, but they are not limited to those locations. They prefer warm surface temperatures greater than 22 °C.
The billfish are a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than 4 m (13 ft). Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophoridae; and swordfish, sole member of the family Xiphiidae. They are often apex predators which feed on a wide variety of smaller fish, crustaceans and cephalopods. These two families are sometimes classified as belonging to the order Istiophoriformes, a group which originated around 71 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous, with the two families diverging around 15 million years ago in the Late Miocene. However, they are also classified as being closely related to the mackerels and tuna within the suborder Scombroidei of the order Perciformes. However, the 5th edition of the Fishes of the World does recognise the Istiophoriformes as a valid order, albeit including the Sphyraenidae, the barracudas.
Rajiformes is one of the four orders in the superorder Batoidea, flattened cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. Rajiforms are distinguished by the presence of greatly enlarged pectoral fins, which reach as far forward as the sides of the head, with a generally flattened body. The undulatory pectoral fin motion diagnostic to this taxon is known as rajiform locomotion. The eyes and spiracles are located on the upper surface of the head and the gill slits are on the underside of the body. Most species give birth to live young, although some lay eggs enclosed in a horny capsule.
Makaira is a genus of marlin in the family Istiophoridae. It includes the Atlantic blue and Indo-Pacific blue marlins. In the past, the black marlin was also included in this genus, but today it is placed in its own genus, Istiompax.
The roundscale spearfish is an Istiophoridae species of marlin living in the epipelagic zone of the Atlantic Ocean. It has long been misidentified as white marlin but can be differentiated thanks to their scale shapes that gives its name. Not much is known about this species. It could reach a length of 160 cm and 21,5 kg and has no conservation status yet due to a lack of data.
Blochius is an extinct genus of prehistoric billfish from the Eocene. It is only known from the Monte Bolca deposits in Italy, and was likely restricted to shallow, tropical waters of the Tethys Sea.
Hybodontiformes, commonly called hybodonts, are an extinct group of shark-like cartilaginous fish (chondrichthyans) which existed from the late Devonian to the Late Cretaceous. Hybodonts share a close common ancestry with modern sharks and rays (Neoselachii) as part of the clade Euselachii. They are distinguished from other chondrichthyans by their distinctive fin spines and cephalic spines present on the heads of males. An ecologically diverse group, they were abundant in marine and freshwater environments during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic, but were rare in open marine environments by the end of the Jurassic, having been largely replaced by modern sharks, though they were still common in freshwater and marginal marine habitats. They survived until the end of the Cretaceous, before going extinct.
Scheenstia is an extinct genus of neopterygian ray-finned fish from the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous of Europe. Fossils have been found in both marine and freshwater environments.
Meristodonoides is an extinct genus of hybodont. The type species is M. rajkovichi, which was originally a species in the genus Hybodus. The species, along with other Hybodus species such as H. butleri and H. montanensis, was reassigned to Meristodonoides by Charlie J. Underwood and Stephen L. Cumbaa in 2010. The species is primarily known from remains from the Cretaceous of North America, spanning from the Aptian/Albian to Maastrichtian, making it one of the last surviving hybodont genera, though records of the genus likely extend back as far as the Late Jurassic, based on an undescribed skeleton from the Tithonian of England, and fragmentary teeth from the Kimmeridgian of Poland, England and Switzerland. Other remains of the genus are known from the Coniacian of England, the Aptian-Albian of France, and the Campanian of European Russia. The morphology of the teeth suggests an adaptation to tearing prey. Fossils from the Western Interior Seaway suggest that it preferred nearshore marine environments, being absent from deeper-water areas, with it likely also being able to tolerate brackish and freshwater conditions.
Pycnodontidae is an extinct family of ray-finned fishes, ranging from the Jurassic period until the Eocene. It was the largest and most derived family of the successful Mesozoic fish order Pycnodontiformes, and the only member of it to survive into the Cenozoic.
This list of fossil fishes described in 2017 is a list of new taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, acanthodians, fossil cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes and other fishes of every kind that are scheduled to be described during the year 2017, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of fishes that are scheduled to occur in the year 2017. The list only includes taxa at the level of genus or species.
Istiophoriformes are an order of bony fish which is not fully recognized by some taxonomists, with some including the two extant families Xiphiidae and Istiophoridae, and others, including the family Sphyraenidae.
This list of fossil fishes described in 2020 is a list of new taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, acanthodians, fossil cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes of every kind that were described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2020.
Pseudorhina is an extinct genus of squatiniform shark closely related to modern angelsharks. Fossils are known from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Europe.
This list of fossil fish research presented in 2021 is a list of new taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, acanthodians, fossil cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes that were described during the year, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2021.
This list of fossil fish research presented in 2022 is a list of new fossil taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes that were described during the year, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2022.
This list of fossil fish research presented in 2023 is a list of new fossil taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes that were described during the year, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2023.