''Gonorynchus'' is a genus of long thin gonorynchiform

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 ...

, commonly called beaked salmon or beaked sandfish. They live on sandy bottoms near

shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

s of the temperate & subtropical Southern Hemisphere and

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. There are five known

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

which are placed in this

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 ...

. All have a distinctive angular snout (hence the name) that the fish use to dig themselves into the sand. A

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...

is absent. They are the last surviving members of the ancient family

Gonorynchidae Gonorynchidae is a family of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish in the order Gonorynchiformes, which has a number of fossil taxa and one extant genus, ''Gonorynchus'', the Beaked salmon, beaked salmons. They are an ancient group, with fossils known ...

, which was much more diverse in the past. Unlike other gonorynchids, there have been no known fossil remains of ''Gonorynchus'' identified, although they are assumed to have diverged from their closest relative (the extinct '' Notogoneus'') during the

Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...

stage of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

. The most widespread species is '' Gonorynchus gonorynchus'', found in scattered locations worldwide. It can reach up to in length. It is a

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

fish, feeding on

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s at night and burrowing into

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

or mud during the day. Beaked salmon are fished commercially in some areas. The flesh of '' Gonorynchus greyi'', found around

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, is reported to be "firm and of good flavour".

Species

Source: * '' Gonorynchus abbreviatus'' Temminck & Schlegel, 1846 * '' Gonorynchus forsteri'' J. D. Ogilby, 1911 * '' Gonorynchus gonorynchus'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1766) * '' Gonorynchus greyi'' ( J. Richardson, 1845) * '' Gonorynchus moseleyi'' D. S. Jordan & Snyder, 1923

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1560139 Gonorynchidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli