''Argyripnus'' is an

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

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 ...

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 ...

in the marine hatchetfish

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 ...

Sternoptychidae 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 shoul ...

. They are commonly known as bristle-mouth fishes, but that may also refer to the related

bristlemouth The Gonostomatidae are a family of mesopelagic marine fish, commonly named bristlemouths, lightfishes, or anglemouths. It is a relatively small family, containing only eight known genera and 32 species. However, bristlemouths make up for their l ...

(Gonostomatidae). ''A. iridescens'' is called " pearlside", which usually refers to the closely related genus '' Maurolicus''.

Species

There are currently seven recognized species in this genus: * '' Argyripnus atlanticus''

Maul A maul may refer to any number of large hammers, including: * War hammer, a medieval weapon * Post maul, a type of sledgehammer * Spike maul, railroad hand tool * Splitting maul, heavy wood-splitting tool resembling both axe and hammer People * A ...

, 1952 * '' Argyripnus brocki'' Struhsaker, 1973 (Brock's Bristle-mouth Fish) * '' Argyripnus electronus'' Parin, 1992 * '' Argyripnus ephippiatus'' C. H. Gilbert &

Cramer Cramer may refer to: Businesses * Cramer brothers, 18th century publishers * Cramer Systems, a software company * Cramer & Co., a former musical-related business in London Other uses * Cramer (surname), including a list of people and fictional ...

, 1897 (Gilbert & Cramer's Bristle-mouth Fish) * '' Argyripnus hulleyi'' Quéro,

Spitz A spitz (; , in reference to the pointed muzzle) is a Dog type, type of domestic dog consisting of between 50 and 70 breeds depending on classification. There is no precise definition of 'spitz' but typically most spitz breeds have pricked ears ...

& Vayne, 2009 (Reunion bristle-mouth fish) * '' Argyripnus iridescens'' McCulloch, 1926 (Brilliant Pearlside) * '' Argyripnus pharos'' Harold &

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, 2003

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s of bristle-mouth fishes show that the genus was already distinct in the

Late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the pro ...

, more than 23

million years ago Million years ago, abbreviated as Mya, Myr (megayear) or Ma (megaannum), is a unit of time equal to (i.e. years), or approximately 31.6 teraseconds. Usage Myr is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used w ...

.Sepkoski (2002)

References

* (2002): 'Argyripnus'' ''In:'' A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. ''Bulletins of American Paleontology'' 364: 560
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Sternoptychidae Extant Chattian first appearances Marine fish genera Ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert Chattian genus first appearances {{Stomiiformes-stub