Gymnelinae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Zoarcidae, the eelpouts. Most species are found in the North Pacific Ocean but one genus is cosmopolitan, and another is endemic to the Southern Ocean.

Gymnelinae
Gymnelus viridis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Zoarcidae
Subfamily: Gymnelinae
Gill, 1863[1]
Genera

See text

Taxonomy edit

Gymenlinae was first proposed as a taxonomic grouping in 1861 by Theodore Gill.[1] The subfamily is classified within the eelpout family, Zoarcidae part of the suborder Zoarcoidei within the order Scorpaeniformes.[2] The name of the subfamily derives from its type genus, Gymnelus, which means "naked eel" and refers to the scaleless body of its type species Gymnelus viridis.[3]

Genera edit

Gymnelinae contains the following genera:[4]

Characteritics edit

Gymnelinae eelpouts have an elongate body and tail. Their branchiostegal membranes have a wide joint with the isthmus, the gill slit typically reaches to around the centre of the base of the pectoral fin, although it may just be a small pore placed high above the pectoral fin. There is normall a poer between the eyes. The caudal fin has between 5 and 12 rays. There are between 4 and 8 suborbital bonmes which form a semicircular ridge around the eye. there are usually no spines in the fins.[5] Most of the species are between 10 and 20 cm (3.9 and 7.9 in) in length but the largest is Gymnelus viridis which has a maximum published total length of 56 cm (22 in).[6]

Distribution edit

Gymnelinae eelpouts are mostly found in the North Pacific with one genus, Melanostigma being found around the world, and another, Seleniolycus, being restricted to the Southern Ocean.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
  2. ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 478–482. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  3. ^ 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 5 October 2022.
  4. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Gymenlinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b Anderson , M. E. and V. V . Fedorov (2004). "Family Zoarcidae Swainson 1839 — eelpouts" (PDF). California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes. 34.
  6. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2022). "Zoarcidae" in FishBase. June 2022 version.