''Paranotothenia'' 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 ...

of marine

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 belonging to the

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 ...

Nototheniidae : ''In some scientific literature, the term "cod icefish" is used to identify members of this family. This should not be confused with the term "icefish," which refers to the "white-blooded" fishes of the family Channichthyidae. See Icefish (disam ...

, the notothens or cod icefishes. These fishes are native to 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 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

Taxonomy

''Paranotothenia'' was first formally described as a genus in 1976 by the Soviet ichthyologist

Arkady Vladimirovich Balushkin Arkady () is a Slavic masculine given name, ultimately derived from the Greek language, Greek name Αρκάδιος, meaning “from Arcadia (region), Arcadia”. Endeared versions of the name are ''Arkasha''. The Latin equivalent is Arcadius (disa ...

, it was originally 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 "unisp ...

genus with ''Gadus magellanicus'', which had been described in 1801 by

Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (; 22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed pastor and naturalist. Born in Tczew, Dirschau, Pomeranian Voivodeship (1466–1772), Pomeranian Voivodeship, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now Tczew, Po ...

with the type locality given as the

Straits of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natural ...

. as its type species. Some authorities place this genus in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Nototheniinae, but the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' does not include subfamilies in the Nototheniidae. The genus name is a compound of ''para'' meaning "near" or "similar to" and ''Notothenia'', the type genus of Nototheniidae, from which it differs by being short snouted and having crests above the eye.

Species

The recognized species in this genus are: * ''

Paranotothenia dewitti ''Paranotothenia dewitti'' is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes. It is native to the Southern Ocean where it is found in the area of sea which the Russians refer to as the S ...

'' Balushkin, 1990 * '' Paranotothenia magellanica'' (J. R. Forster, 1801) (Magellanic rockcod) '' Notothenia trigramma'' is classified within this genus by some authorities, although

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

retain it in the genus ''Notothenia'' pending further studies.

Characteristics

''Paranotothenia'' notothens are quite similar to this classified within the genus ''Notothenia''. They have a wide head with a short snout and a mouth which reaches as far back as the middle of the eye. The front part of the snout is steep, with a prominent bulge before the eye. The eyes are noticeable more widely spaced than those of ''Notothenia''. The wide cranium has a rough upper surface with lots of crests, bumps and pits. The crest over the eye extends rearwards quite far. The head is largely unscaled, although there are small patches of scales to the rear of the eyes. The majority of the body scales are non-

ctenoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...

. The

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

ranges from forked in juveniles, emarginate or infrequently slightly rounded in larger individuals to emarginate in the largest fishes found off Antarctica. These fishes attain a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of .

Distribution, habitat and biology

''Paranotothenia'' are found in the Southern Ocean as well as in the southwestern Atlantic including the Magellanic region of southern South America, southern Indian Ocean, and southwestern Pacific Oceans. They have pelagic larvae and juveniles and are benthic as adults. They feed mainly on crustaceans, some fishes, molluscs and algae.

Fisheries

''Paranotothenia'' notothens are uncommonly caught by commercial fisheries.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2788887 Nototheniidae Taxa named by Arkady Vladimirovich Balushkin