Chionobathyscus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Channichthyidae
Genus: Chionobathyscus
Andriashev & Neyelov, 1978
Species:
C. dewitti
Binomial name
Chionobathyscus dewitti
Andriashev & Neyelov, 1978

Chionobathyscus dewitti is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Channichthyidae, the crocodile icefishes. This species is found in the Southern Ocean.

Taxonomy

Chionobathyscus was first described as a genus in 1978 by the ichthyologists Anatoly Petrovich Andriyashev and Alexei Vladimovich Neyelov[1] when they were describing the only species in this genus Chionobathyscus dewitti, the type of which had been collected in the Eastern Antarctic Ocean at 67°31'S, 33°05'W.[2] The genus name is a compound of chionos which means "snow", although in this case this is alluding to the relationship of this taxon with the genus Chionodraco, and bathyscus which means "inhabitant of the deep", a reference to the depths at which this species is found. The specific name honours the American ichthyologist, marine biologist and oceanographer Hugh Hamilton DeWitt in recognition of his work on Antarctic fishes.[3]

Description

Chionobathyscus dewitti has a vestigial spine on the snout, really just a small knob. There are 3 or 4 branched spines on the operculum. There are 3 lateral lines which do not have bony plates. The pelvic fin is elongated and has thickened skin at their tips. The first and second dorsal fins are clearly separated. Within the dorsal fin there are 5 or 6 spines and 39 or 40 soft rays while the anal fin has 33 or 34 soft rays. They are an overall gray colour, paler centrally, with juveniles being a lighter colour than adults. There body is marked with 5 wide bars and the fins are pale except for the rear parts of the pectoral and caudal fins.[4] This species attains a maximum total length of 60 cm (24 in).[5]

Distribution, habitat and biology

Chionobathyscus dewitti is found in the Southern Ocean and is probably circum-Antarctic on the continental shelf and slope. It is a bathydemersal species with a depth range of 500 to 2,000 m (1,600 to 6,600 ft). The adults feed largely on fishes krill.[5] They have been caught in prespawning condition in February.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Channichthyidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  2. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Chionobathyscus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 April 2021). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Notothenoididei: Families Bovichtidae, Pseaudaphritidae, Elegopinidae, Nototheniidae, Harpagiferidae, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Channichthyidae and Percophidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 T. Iwami and K-H Koch (1990). "Channicthyidae Icefishes". In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. ISBN 9780868102115.
  5. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2021). "Chionobathyscus dewitti" in FishBase. June 2021 version.
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