''Acanthodraco'' is 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 "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Bathydraconidae, the Antarctic dragonfishes, its only species is DeWitt’s dragonfish (''Acanthodraco dewitti''). They are found in 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 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smal ...

and the southeastern Pacific Ocean. ''Acanthodraco'' was first formally described as a genus by the Polish ichthyologist in 1995 when he was describing its only species ''Acanthodraco dewitti''. The

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

of ''A. dewitti'' is the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...

. The genus name is a compound of ''acanthus'', which means “thorn” or “spine” alluding to the higher number spines on the operculum than related genera, and ''draco'' Meaning “dragon”, a common suffix in the scientific names of notothenioid fishes. The specific name honours the American ichthyologist

Hugh Hamilton DeWitt Hugh Hamilton DeWitt (28 December 1933-5 January 1995) was an American ichthyologist, marine biologist and oceanographer. DeWitt was born on 28 December 1933 in San Jose, California, son of Carl Bryce Seligman, a country doctor, and Honor Pettit S ...

, a renowned worker on notothenioid fishes. ''Acanthodraco'' is a bathydemersal fish found at depths of at least and since the original description has been found in the Ross Sea and in the southeastern Pacific Ocean off Chile. ''A. dewitti'' probably has a

Circumpolar distribution A circumpolar distribution is any range of a taxon that occurs over a wide range of longitudes but only at high latitudes; such a range therefore extends all the way around either the North Pole or the South Pole. Taxa that are also found in isola ...

around the Antarctic and is replaced in the seas around South Georgia by the similar '' Psilodraco breviceps''. Two specimens from the Ross Sea had standard lengths of and respectively. The had 27 rays in the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

and 25-26 rays in the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

. These specimens were of either sex and their gonads were developing towards spawning. This alongside the presence of

postlarvae Crustaceans may pass through a number of larval and immature stages between hatching from their eggs and reaching their adult form. Each of the stages is separated by a moult, in which the hard exoskeleton is shed to allow the animal to grow. Th ...

Terra Nova Bay Terra Nova Bay is a bay which is often ice free, about long, lying between Cape Washington and the Drygalski Ice Tongue along the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition (known as the ...

suggest this species spawns in the Ross Sea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q769838, from2=Q2444118 Bathydraconidae Monotypic fish genera Fish described in 1995 Fish of Antarctica