Caristiidae, the manefishes, are a family of

scombriform Scombriformes, also known as Pelagia and Pelagiaria, is an order of ray-finned fish within the clade Percomorpha. It contains 287 extant species in 16 families, most of which were previously classified under the suborders Scombroidei and Stroma ...

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 which today includes 19

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 distributed in four genera.

Taxonomy

The following genera are known: * ''

Caristius ''Caristius'' is a genus of manefishes native to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Ecology A member of the genus ''Caristius'' associates with the siphonophore ''Bathyphysa conifera'', using it for shelter, stealing meals, and per ...

Gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

, 1905 * ''

Neocaristius ''Neocaristius heemstrai'' is a species of fish in the family Caristiidae, the manefishes. It is native to the oceans of the southern hemisphere where it is known to occur at depths of from . This species grows to a length of SL. This fish wa ...

'' Stevenson & Kenaley, 2011 * ''

Paracaristius ''Paracaristius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Caristiidae, the manefishes. It is a small genus with mostly newly described species.Stevenson, D. E. and C. P. Kenaley. (2011)Revision of the manefish genus ''Paracaristius'' (Teleost ...

'' Trunov, Kukuev & Parin, 2006 * ''

Platyberyx ''Platyberyx'' is a genus of manefishes native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Species There are currently five recognized species in this genus: * '' Platyberyx mauli'' Kukuev, Parin & Trunov, 2012Kukuev, E.I., Parin, N.V. & Trunov, I.A. (20 ...

'' Zugmayer, 1911 In addition, the extinct genera ''

Chalcidichthys ''Chalcidichthys'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric manefish. It contains a single species, ''C. malacapterygius,'' that lived during the Upper Miocene of Southern California. It is known from the Modelo Formation in Los Angeles County, and s ...

'' and ''

Absalomichthys ''Absalomichthys velifer'' is an extinct, prehistoric manefish that lived during the Upper Miocene of what is now Southern California in the United States. Its dorsal fin was huge in comparison with living species. It is known from the Modelo ...

'' are known from the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

Biology

They are

deep-sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

marine fishes found in the mesopelagic zone that eat

siphonophore Siphonophorae (from Ancient Greek σίφων (siphōn), meaning "tube" and -φόρος (-phóros), meaning "bearing") is an order within Hydrozoa, a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. According to the World Register of Marine ...

s. An adult manefish is less than 25 cm in length and most of them are entirely black, which helps

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

them from predators.

References

Percomorpha families {{Scombroidei-stub