ray-finned fishes
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class (biology), class of Osteichthyes, bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built ...
belonging to the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The fishes in the genus are found in the Indian, Pacific and, one species, in the Western Atlantic Oceans.
Taxonomy
''Abantennarius'' was first proposed as a genus in 1957 by the American
ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...
Leonard Peter Schultz
Leonard Peter Schultz (1901–1986) was an American ichthyologist.
Biography
Schultz was born in 1901, at Albion, Michigan. He received education on ichthyology at Albion College, in which he got his bachelor's degree, in 1924. In 1926, he got ...
with ''Antennarius duescus'' designated as the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
.''A. duescus'' has originally been described in 1904 by
John Otterbein Snyder
John Otterbein Snyder (August 14, 1867 – August 19, 1943) was an American ichthyologist and professor of zoology at Stanford University.
History
As a student he met David Starr Jordan who inspired him to enter zoology. He eventually became a zoo ...
Maui
Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...
and
Lanai
Lānai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island's on ...
in the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
. This genus has been regarded as a
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
of ''
Antennarius
''Antennarius'' is a genus of anglerfish belonging to the Family (biology), family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. The fishes in this genus are found in warmer parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Taxonomy
''Antennarius'' was first p ...
'', but is now regarded as valid genus. Some authorities classify this genus in the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Antennariinae within the family Antennariidae. However, the 5th edition of ''
Fishes of the World
''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...
'' does not recognise subfamilies within the Antennariidae, classifying the family within the
suborder
Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...
Antennarioidei
Antennarioidei is a suborder of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.
Taxonomy
Antennarioidei was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping in 1912 by the English ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan. The 5th e ...
within the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
''Abantennarius'' prefixes ''ab'', meaning "away from", onto ''antennarius'', a fish of the family Antennaridae. This is an allusion to the gill opening being positioned away from the base of the
pectoral fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...
, which is typically where it is located in frogfishes.
Lesson
A lesson or class is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one ...
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Abantennarius drombus'' (
D. S. Jordan
David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...
Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...
Gill
A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...
, 1863) (Bloody frogfish)
Characteristics
''Abantennarius'' frogfishes have round, nearly globular bodies that are to some degree compressed. They do not have spines on the
illicium
''Illicium'' is a genus of flowering plants treated as part of the family Schisandraceae,
and the esca is very small or absent. The second dorsa spinenis not connected to the head by a membrane while the third dorsal spine may be flexible or immobile. The mouth is upward pointing and is very large. The pectoral fins have developed to resemble limbs and have an "elbow", the fin is widely linked to the body. The gill opening is small and round, under and to the rear of the base of the pectoral fin. There is no
caudal peduncle
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
and the rear edges of the
dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...
and
anal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...
are connected to the
caudal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
by membranes. The rays in the caudal fin may be branched. The body is covered in thick skin which is covered in dense, closely set spinules, They typically have a dark blotch covering part of the upper body and the base of the dorsal fin. The smallest species in the genus is ''A. duescus'', with a maximum published
standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology.
Overall length
Standard length (SL) is ...
of , while the largest is ''A. dorehensis'' with a maximum published
total length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology.
Overall length
Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...
is .
Distribution
''Abantennarius'' frogfishes are found in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean from the eastern coasts of Africa east to the western coasts of the Americas, with one species ''A. bermudensis'' in the western Atlantic Ocean.