''Melanonus'' 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 ...

gadiform Gadiformes , also called the Anacanthini, are an order of ray-finned fish that include the cod, hakes, pollock, haddock, burbot, rocklings and moras, many of which are food fish of major commercial value. They are mostly marine fish found throu ...

fishes containing just two species of

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

-like marine fishes. This is the only genus in the family Melanonidae. Both species are small fish, no more than in length, and are black in colour. They live in the midwaters of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

s, well away from coasts.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are: * ''

Melanonus gracilis The pelagic cod (''Melanonus gracilis'') is a small deepwater fish found in the Southern Ocean. It is one of only two species currently classified in the family Melanonidae, the other being the arrowtail, ''Melanonus zugmayeri''. The pelagic c ...

'' Günther, 1878 (pelagic cod) * ''

Melanonus zugmayeri ''Melanonus zugmayeri'', the arrowtail, is a species of mesopelagic gadiform belonging to the pelagic cod family Melanonidae. Name ''Melanonus zugmayeri'' takes its generic name from the Greek roots ''melan'', meaning black, and ''onos'', mea ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

, 1930 (arrowtail)

References

Melanonidae Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Gadiformes-stub