Ipnopidae

Ipnopidae
Unidentified tripod fish off the coast of Hawaii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Aulopiformes
Family: Ipnopidae
T. N. Gill, 1884
Genera

Bathymicrops
Bathypterois
Bathytyphlops
Ipnops

Bathypterois viridensis with modified pectoral and pelvic fins
Mediterranean spiderfish Bathypterois dubius
Deep sea fish Ipnops

The Ipnopidae (deepsea tripod fishes) are a family of fishes in the order Aulopiformes. They are small, slender fishes, with maximum length ranging from about 10 to 40 cm (3.9 to 15.7 in). They are found in temperate and tropical deep waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

A number of species, especially in the genus Bathypterois, have elongated pectoral and pelvic fins. In the case of the tripodfish, Bathypterois grallator, these fins are three times as long as the body — up to a meter in length — and are used for standing on the sea floor. Ipnopids either have tiny eyes, or very large eyes that lack any lens; in either case they have very poor vision and are unable to form an image.[1] Ipnopidae is a species of fish that have adapted to living in the deep. Their skeleton is flatter with reinforced bony heads on its fin rays and its pelvic fins are located through the tips of the pectoral fin rays.[2][3][4][5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Johnson, R.K.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 125. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  2. ^ Prirodina, & Neyelov, A. V. (2020). The Osteological Features of Ipnops agassizii Garman, 1899
  3. ^ (Aulopiformes: Ipnopidae) from Bathyal and Ultra-Abyssal Depths of the Australia–New Zealand Region, with Remarks on the Biogeographical Significance of these Findings. Russian Journal of Marine Biology, 46(1), 22–28. https://doi.org/10.1134/S106307402001006X
  4. ^ Angulo, A., Bussing, W. A., & López, M. I. (2015). Occurrence of the tripodfish Bathypterois ventralis (Aulopiformes: Ipnopidae) in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Revista Mexicana De Biodiversidad, 86(2), 546–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmb.2015.04.025
  5. ^ “Tripod Fish.” Nature (London), vol. 240, no. 5379, 1972, pp. 284–284.