Bass is a name shared by many species of fish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species, all belonging to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes. The word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch".
Neopterygii is a subclass of ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii). Only a few changes occurred during the evolution of neopterygians from the earlier actinopterygians. They appeared sometime in the Late Permian, before the time of the dinosaurs. The neopterygians were a very successful group of fish, because they could move more rapidly than their ancestors. Their scales and skeletons began to lighten during their evolution, and their jaws became more powerful and efficient. While electroreception and the ampullae of Lorenzini are present in all other groups of fish, with the exception of hagfish, neopterygians have lost this sense, even if it has later been re-evolved within Gymnotiformes and catfishes, which possess nonhomologous teleost ampullae.
Marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes are small deep-sea mesopelagic ray-finned fish of the stomiiform subfamily Sternoptychinae. They should not be confused with the freshwater hatchetfishes, which are not particularly closely related Teleostei in the characiform family Gasteropelecidae.
The name hatchetfish may refer to three groups of fishes:
The marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes as well as the related bottlelights, pearlsides and constellationfishes are small deep-sea ray-finned fish of the stomiiform family Sternoptychidae. They are not closely related to and should not be confused with the freshwater hatchetfishes, which are teleosts in the characiform family Gasteropelecidae. The Sternoptychidae have 10 genera and about 70 species altogether.
Argyropelecus is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus in the deep sea hatchetfish family Sternoptychidae. A collective name is "silver hatchetfishes", but this can also refer to a species of the freshwater hatchetfishes which are not particularly closely related to. The large pupils of these marine hatchetfishes enable them to see dim objects in the deep sea, where light barely penetrates.
Polyipnus is a genus of oceanic ray-finned fish in the family Sternoptychidae. This is the largest genus of the marine hatchetfishes subfamily Sternoptychinae and indeed of the entire Sternoptychidae. It is not quite as apomorphic as their relatives; it may be that the genus is actually a paraphyletic assemblage of less advanced Sternoptychinae and would need to be split.
Sternoptyx is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus which belongs in the family Sternoptychidae. This is the type genus of the Sternoptychidae, as well as the marine hatchetfish subfamily Sternoptychinae.
The freshwater hatchetfish are a family, Gasteropelecidae, of ray-finned fish from South and Central America. The common hatchetfish is the most popular member among fish keeping hobbyists. The family includes three genera: Carnegiella, Gasteropelecus, and Thoracocharax.
The Tasmanian giant crab, Pseudocarcinus gigas is a very large species of crab that resides on rocky and muddy bottoms in the oceans off Southern Australia. It is the only species in the genus Pseudocarcinus.
Argyropelecus hemigymnus, the half-naked hatchetfish, short silver hatchetfish or spurred hatchetfish, is a deep-sea hatchetfish of the genus Argyropelecus found mesopelagically in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans as well as in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a small species rarely exceeding 38 millimetres (1.5 in) standard length. It feeds on zooplankton, particularly ostracods and copepods. Sexual maturation occurs at length of about 22 mm, and adult males have more developed olfactory organs than females, i.e. the species is sexually dimorphic.
Silver hatchetfish may refer to:
Argyropelecus aculeatus, the lovely hatchetfish or Atlantic silver hatchetfish, is a species of fish in the family Sternoptychidae. It may exceed 70 millimetres (2.8 in) standard length (SL). It lives in the mesopelagic zone of all oceans and performs diel vertical migration. A. aculeatus feeds on a large range of prey items; in the Gulf of Mexico ostracods and copepods dominated the diet of small individuals and euphausiids, molluscs, and fish the diet of larger ones. The silvery coloration and bioluminescence of the lovely hatchetfish allows it to hide from predators and prey in the down-welling light of the twilight zone.
Anastasio Cocco was an Italian naturalist who specialized in marine biology.
Thoracocharax is a genus of freshwater hatchetfishes found in the Amazon, Orinoco and Paraná basins in South America. These fish live just under the surface of the water.
Carnegiella is a genus of freshwater hatchetfishes found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins in South America. This genus contains some popular aquarium fishes.
Gasteropelecus is a genus of freshwater hatchetfishes found in Central and South America. This genus includes some popular aquarium fishes. There are currently three described species in this genus.
Argyropelecus affinis is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Sternoptychidae, found in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Common names for this fish include Pacific hatchetfish, deepsea hatchetfish and slender hatchetfish. It inhabits the mesopelagic zone and is either non-migratory or performs short daily vertical migrations.
Argyropelecus sladeni, or Sladen's hatchetfish, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Sternoptychidae, found in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. This small fish lives in the mesopelagic zone by day and makes a daily vertical migration to the epipelagic zone at night.
