Biology:Opisthocentridae

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Opisthocentridae, the rearspined fin pricklebacks, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes, classified within the suborder Zoarcoidei.[1] These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

Opisthocentrinae was first put forward as a subfamily in 1898 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann.[2] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World places this subfamily in the family Stichaeidae[3] but presently, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes treats this taxon as a valid family, Opisthocentridae within the suborder Zoarcoidei within the Perciformes.[1] This is based on phylogenetic evidence that found Stichaeidae to be paraphyletic as previously defined.[4][5] The name of the subfamily is taken from its type genus Opisthocentrus which is a combination of opistho, meaning "behind", and kentron, which means "thorn" or "spine", an allusion to the spines on the 11th and 12th rays in the dorsal fin of O. ocellatus.[6]

Etymology

Opisthocentrus is a combination of opistho, meaning "behind", and kentron, which means "thorn" or "spine", an allusion to the spines on the 11th and 12th rays in the dorsal fin of O. ocellatus.[6]

Genera

The subfamily contains the following genera:[7]

Characteristics

Opisthocentridae fishes are characterised by having elongate bodies which are relatively deep. They do not have any appendages in the skin of the head. The anal fin has with 1 or 2 spines at its anterior end and the pectoral fins are lareg, containing between 12 and 21 fin rays. The small pelvic fins have a single spine and 3 soft rays, although in some taxa these may be vestigial or absent, e.g. in Kasatkia. The head can be completed clothed in scales, there may only be scales on the cheek or it may be naked. The sensory canals on the head are well developed and the lateral line system on the body consists of mid flank and dorsal lines comprising superficial neuromasts. The gill membranes have a wide join and are not attached to the isthmus.[8] The smallest species is the saddled prickleback (Lumpenopsis clitella) which has a maximum published standard length of 5.6 cm (2.2 in) and the largest is Pholidapus dybowskii which has a maximum published total length of 46 cm (18 in).[9]

Distribution and habitat

Opisthocentridae fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean off both Asia and North America.[7] They are found from costal algal beds out to the edge of the continental shelf. Generally, little is known about their biology.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fricke, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Van der Laan, R. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION" (in en). https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification. 
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named VDLEF
  3. ↑ 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. https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/. 
  4. ↑ Radchenko, O. A. (2015-11-01). "The system of the suborder Zoarcoidei (Pisces, Perciformes) as inferred from molecular genetic data" (in en). Russian Journal of Genetics 51 (11): 1096–1112. doi:10.1134/S1022795415100130. ISSN 1608-3369. 
  5. ↑ Brownstein, Chase D.; Harrington, Richard C.; Radchenko, Olga; Near, Thomas J. (2025-05-14). "The many origins of extremophile fishes". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 292 (2046). doi:10.1098/rspb.2025.0217. PMID 40359972. PMC 12074803. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2025.0217. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara, eds (4 July 2021). "Order Perciformes (Part 11): Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Families: Anarhichadidae, Neozoarcidae, Eulophias, Stichaeidae, Lumpenidae, Ophistocentridae, Pholidae, Ptilichthyidae, Zaproridae, Cryptacanthodidae, Cebidichthyidae, Scytalinidae and Bathymasteridae". Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. http://etyfish.org/perciformes15/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron; van der Laan, Richard, eds. "Genera in the family Opisthocentridae". California Academy of Sciences. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatget.asp?tbl=genus&family=Opisthocentridae. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mecklenburg, C. W.; B. A. Sheiko (2004). "Family Stichaeidae Gill 1864 — pricklebacks". California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes 35. https://www.calacademy.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/stichaeidae.pdf. 
  9. ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2022). "Opisthocentridae" in FishBase. June 2022 version.

Wikidata ☰ Q15837657 entry



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