''Chaunacops'' 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 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 Chaunacidae, the

sea toad The sea toads and coffinfishes are a Family (biology), family, the Chaunacidae, of deep-sea Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes belonging to the monotypic suborder Chaunacoidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. These are bottom-dwelli ...

s. This genus of

deep-sea anglerfish Ceratioidei, the deep-sea anglerfishes or pelagic anglerfishes, is a suborder of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes, one of five suborders in the Order (biology), order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes. These fishes are found in tropical and t ...

es contains 4 species and these are found in the

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the s ...

, southeastern Pacific and western Atlantic oceans. Little is known about the life history and biology of these fishes.

Taxonomy

''Chaunacops'' was first proposed as a genus in 1899 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 ...

Samuel Garman Samuel Walton Garman (June 5, 1843 – September 30, 1927), or "Garmann" as he sometimes styled himself, was an American naturalist and zoologist. He became noted as an ichthyologist and herpetologist. Biography Garman was born in Indiana Co ...

when he described ''Chaunacops coloratus'' as a new species. ''C. coloratus'' was described from the "Pacific over

Cocos Ridge The Cocos Ridge is an aseismic ridge within the Cocos plate that runs northeastwards from just north of the Galápagos islands to the Middle America Trench offshore Panama. It records the effects of the Galápagos hotspot on the Cocos plate since ...

" at 5°43'N, 85°50'W, named as

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

station 3363 at a depth of . This genus is classified within the family Chaunacidae, the sea toads, one of two genera in that family, the sea toads are placed within the

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 ...

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 ...

Chaunacoidei within the

anglerfish The anglerfish are ray-finned fish in the order Lophiiformes (). Both the order's common name, common and scientific name comes from the characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified dorsal Fish fin#Ray-fins, fin ray acts as a Aggressiv ...

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 ...

Lophiiformes.

Species

There are currently 4 recognized species in this genus: A sea toad photographed at a depth of by a

Remotely operated underwater vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is a free-swimming submersible craft used to perform underwater observation, inspection and physical tasks such as valve operations, hydraulic functions and other g ...

from the '' NOAAS Okeanos Explorer'' on the "Beach Ridge" seamount in the Musicians Seamounts on 8 September 2017 was brighter red than ''C. coloratus'' with larger cirri and the prickles on its back were smaller or absent compared to ''C. coloratus''. This fish may be a life stage or morph of ''C. coloratus'' or it may be a new undescribed species, confirmation requires the collection of a

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

Etymology

''Chaunacops'' means "similar to or looking like ''

Chaunax ''Chaunax'', variously known as coffinfishes, gapers, or frogmouths, is a genus of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes. It is one of two genera belonging to the family (biology), family Chaunacidae, the sea toads. They are found in tropical ...

''. The specific names of the four species are: ''coloratus'', meaning "colored", this species was described as having a life color of "deep rose" with dark tints around the mouth and the orbit; ''melanostomus'', meaning "black mouth", a reference to the black lining to the mouth; ''roseus'', meaning "rosy", again, referring to the life color; and ''spinosus'', meaning "spiny", this species having a denser covering of spiny denticles than its congeners.

Characteristics

''Chaunacops'' sea toads are characterized as having globose heads, open sensory and

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

canals, and loose skin covered by small spine-like scales. Colour, which has been noted as an important distinguishing characteristic, has generally been described as pink, reddish orange, or rose. They have rounded, slightly compressed bodies which taper to a small tail. The eyes are placed high on the sides of the head and are covered in a window of transparent skin. Their large mouths are upward pointing and have thin, sharp, vertical teeth. The opening to the gills is small. There is a single dorsal spine, the

illicium ''Illicium'' is a genus of flowering plants treated as part of the family Schisandraceae,

, or "fishing rod", tipped with the esca, or "lure", made up of a dense, mop-like cluster of short filaments. The other two dorsal spines are embedded in the skin. 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 ...

is supported by 12 soft rays while the

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 ...

is supported by 5 or 6 soft rays. The loose, flabby skin is covered in rough, widely speaced tiny denticles. However, Lundsten et al. suggests that juvenile ''C. coloratus'' may be blue and only adults are red or rose coloured. The largest species in the genus is ''C. roseus'' which has 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 ...

of while the smallest is ''C. melanostomus'' 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 .

Distribution and habitat

''Chaunacops'' sea toads are distributed around the world but are not known from the eastern Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea. ''Chaunacops'' sea toads are being collected in some numbers from Eastern and Western Australia. A paper published in 2015 stated that a newly identified species in genus ''Chaunacops'' was found off the coasts of Australia and

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. ''Chaunacops'' sea toads are typically found at deeper depths than ''

'', but with considerable overlap between the two genera. ''Chaunacops coloratus'' are also often found near "

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

-encrusted volcanic talus slopes".

Biology

''Chaunacops'' sea toad, like other anglerfishes, are

ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey u ...

s which use the illicium and esca to attract prey to within striking distance of their large mouths. Like the anglerfishies inhabiting shallow water these sea toads can use their pectoral fins to walk over the substrate. ''C. coloratus'' has the ability to inflate its body into a large ball and this is thought to be to deter predators. These fishes have sometimes been described as having

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...

lures, however, there is no evidence that this is the case. The related batfishes belonging to the family

Ogcocephalidae Ogcocephalidae is a family of anglerfish specifically adapted for a benthic lifestyle of crawling about on the seafloor. Ogcocephalid anglerfish are sometimes referred to as batfishes,Mbari.orgBBC.co.uk
{{Taxonbar, from=Q613825 Chaunacidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Samuel Garman