Gobionotothen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gobionotothen
Gobionotothen gibberifrons
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Nototheniidae
Genus: Gobionotothen
Balushkin, 1976
Type species
Notothenia gibberifrons
Lönnberg, 1905

Gobionotothen is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean.

Gobionotothen was first formally described in 1976 by the Russian ichthyologist Arkady Vladimirovich Balushkin with the type species designated as Notothenia gibberifrons[1] which was described by the Swedish naturalist Einar Lönnberg in 1905 with its type locality given as South Georgia.[2] Some authorities place this taxon in the subfamily Nototheniinae,[3] but the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not include subfamilies in the Nototheniidae.[4] The name of the genus is a compound of gobio meaning "goby", referring to the goby-like form of these species and notothen, indicating that it is a nothothen.[5]

Species

Five recognized species are in this genus:[6]

Characteristics

Gobionotothen fishes have elongate bodies which are compressed towards the rear. The head has a convex dorsal profile and the space between the eyes is narrow. The mouth is small without a protruding lower jaw and they do not have large canine-like teeth. They have two lateral lines made up of tubed scales. The head is scaly, excep for the snout, lower jaw, the preorbital and the edge if the preoperculum. They have a rounded caudal fin.[3] The species vary in maximum total length from 20 cm (7.9 in) in G. angustifrons to 55 cm (22 in) in G. gibberifrons.[6]

Distribution, habitat and biology

Fisheries

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI