Aiakas is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Zoarcidae the eelpouts. These fishes are found in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.
| Aiakas | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
| Family: | Zoarcidae |
| Subfamily: | Lycodinae |
| Genus: | Aiakas Gosztonyi, 1977 |
| Type species | |
| Aiakas kreffti Gosztonyi, 1977[1]
| |
| Species | |
|
2, see text | |
Taxonomy edit
Aiakes was first proposed as a genus in 1974 by the Argentina based marine biologist Atila E. Gosztonyi. He named the new monospecific genus when he described its type species, and then only species, Aiakas kreffti, which had been collected from a depth of 800 m (2,600 ft) on the continental slope off Golfo San Jorge, Argentina.[1] A second species, A. zinorum, was described by M. Eric Anderson and Gosztonyi in 1991, also from off southern Argentina.[2] This genus is classified within the subfamily Lycodinae, one of 4 subfamilies in the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts.[3]
Species edit
The following two species are classified within the genus:[4]
- Aiakas kreffti Gosztonyi, 1977
- Aiakas zinorum Anderson & Gosztonyi, 1991
Etymology edit
Aiakas, the genus name, is derived from the Yamana word aiakasi, which manes “deep-sea fish”, an allusion to the type locality. The specific name of the type species, A. kreffti, honours the German ichthyologist Gerhard Krefft, of the Institute für Seefischerei in Hamburg for his assistance in describing that species. The specific name of A. zinorum honours the Soviet ichthyologists of ZIL, an abbreviation for the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, for their studies on the fishes of the Southern Ocean.[5]
Characteristics edit
Aiakas eelpouts are differentiated from related genera by having the lower lip attached to the mandibular symphysis, the nostril tubes do not overlap the upper lip, and they have teeth on the oral valve, vomer and palatine bone. There are no pelvic fins or papillae on the skin. The flesh is not gelatinous and they have scales. A. kresffti has 18 or 19 fin rays in the pectoral fin, no pore on the intraorbital region and 6 suborbital pores. A. zimorum has 14 or 15 fin rays in the pectoral fin, a pore on the intraorbital region and 5 suborbital pores.[6]
Distribution and habitat edit
Aiakas eelpouts are bathydemersal fishes of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean living at depths greater than 500 m (1,600 ft).[7][8]
References edit
- ^ a b Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Lycodinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Aiakas". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
- ^ Anderson , M. E. and V. V . Fedorov (2004). "Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes. 34.
- ^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2022). Species of Aiakas in FishBase. June 2022 version.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (6 May 2022). "Order Perciformes Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Family: Zoarcidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ M. Eric Anderson and Atila E. Gosztonyi (1991). "Studies on the Zoarcidae (Teleostei: Perciformes) of the Southern Hemisphere IV. New records and a new species from the Magellan Province of South America". Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. 55: 1–16.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Aiakas kreffti" in FishBase. June 2022 version.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Aiakas zinorum" in FishBase. June 2022 version.
Notes edit
- "Aiakas". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 6 June 2006.