Phallostethidae, also known as priapium fish, is a family of atheriniform fish native to freshwater and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

habitats in

southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. They are small, no more than in length, with partially translucent bodies. They are found in fresh and brackish water from

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

. They are named for a muscular organ found under the chin of males. This organ, which may possess small testicles, is used together with the pelvic fins to grasp the female during mating. Unlike most other fish, priapium fishes exhibit

internal fertilisation Internal fertilization is the union of an egg and sperm cell during sexual reproduction inside the female body. Internal fertilization, unlike its counterpart, external fertilization, brings more control to the female with reproduction. For intern ...

, although they are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

Subdivision

The family Phallostethidae is divided into two

subfamilies 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 zool ...

and four genera: * Subfamily

Phallostethinae Phallostethinae is a subfamily of fishes, one of two subfamilies in the family Phallostethidae, the priapiumfishes. The species in this subfamily are characterised mainly by having highly protrusible jaws. The genus ''Neostethus'' appears to be ...

Regan, 1916 ** Genus ''

Neostethus ''Neostethus'' is a genus of fishes in the family Phallostethidae, native to freshwater and brackish habitats in southeast Asia, with the majority of the species restricted to the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of ...

'' Regan, 1916 ** Genus ''

Phallostethus ''Phallostethus'' is a small genus of fishes in the family Phallostethidae native to freshwater and brackish habitats in southeast Asia. Species The currently recognized species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organ ...

'' Regan, 1916 ** Genus ''

Phenacostethus ''Phenacostethus'' is a genus of fishes in the family Phallostethidae found in freshwater and brackish habitats in southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region ...

Myers Myers as a surname has several possible origins, e.g. Old French ("physician"), Old English ("mayor"), and Old Norse ("marsh"). People * Abram F. Myers (1889–after 1960), chair of the Federal Trade Commission and later general counsel and b ...

, 1928 * Subfamily

Gulaphallinae ''Gulaphallus'' is a genus of fishes in the family Phallostethidae, native to the Philippines. They are mainly found in freshwater habitats, but ''G. panayensis'' is from brackish and marine habitats. It is the only genus in the subfamily ...

Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', ) is a town in the East Frisian region of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Aurich and is the second largest City in East Frisia, both in popula ...

, 1937 ** Genus ''

Gulaphallus ''Gulaphallus'' is a genus of fishes in the family Phallostethidae, native to the Philippines. They are mainly found in freshwater habitats, but ''G. panayensis'' is from brackish and marine habitats. It is the only genus in the subfamily ...

'' Herre, 1925

References

{{Authority control Percomorpha families