''Bathydraco'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

es 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 ...

Bathydraconidae The Bathydraconidae, or the Antarctic dragonfishes, 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 Antarct ...

, the Antarctic dragonfishes. They are native to the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

Taxonomy

''Bathydraco'' was first described as a genus in 1878 by the German-born British

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 ...

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther , also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3October 18301February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive reptile tax ...

as a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus with '' B. antarctica'', which had been collected on the ''Challenger'' expedition south of

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land ...

, as its

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 ...

. The generic name ''Bathydraco'' is a combination of ''bathy'' meaning "deep" and ''draco'' meaning dragon, the type of ''B. antarctica'' was collected at and ''draco'' is a commonly used suffix for Notothenioids.

Species

There are currently five recognized species in this genus: * ''

Bathydraco antarcticus ''Bathydraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathydraconidae, the Antarctic dragonfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bathydraco'' was first described as a genus in 1878 by the German-born ...

'' Günther, 1878 * ''

Bathydraco joannae ''Bathydraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathydraconidae, the Antarctic dragonfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bathydraco'' was first described as a genus in 1878 by the German-born ...

'' H. H. DeWitt, 1985 * ''

Bathydraco macrolepis ''Bathydraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathydraconidae, the Antarctic dragonfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bathydraco'' was first described as a genus in 1878 by the German-born ...

'' Boulenger, 1907 * ''

Bathydraco marri ''Bathydraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathydraconidae, the Antarctic dragonfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bathydraco'' was first described as a genus in 1878 by the German-born ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

, 1938 (Deep-water dragon) * ''

Bathydraco scotiae ''Bathydraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bathydraconidae, the Antarctic dragonfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bathydraco'' was first described as a genus in 1878 by the German-born ...

'' Dollo, 1906

References

Bathydraconidae Fish of Antarctica Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Bathydraconidae-stub