Ogcocephalidae
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ogcocephalidae".

Batfishes
Longnose seabat, Malthopsis lutea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Lophiiformes Family: Ogcocephalidae
Genera
Coelophrys Dibranchus Halicmetus Halieutaea Halieutichthys Halieutopsis Malthopsis Ogcocephalus Solocisquama Zalieutes See text for species.

Batfishes are a family, Ogcocephalidae, of anglerfishes. They are found in deep, lightless waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans.^[1]

They are laterally compressed fishes similar in appearance to rays, with a large circular, triangular, or box-shaped (in Coelophrys) head and a small tail. The illicium (a modified dorsal fin ray on the front of the head, that supports the esca, a bulbous lure) can be retracted into an illicial cavity above the mouth. The esca is not luminous as in most other groups of anglerfishes, but secretes a fluid that is hypothesized to act as a chemical lure, attracting prey.^[2]

They are bottom-dwelling fishes, mostly found on the continental slope at depths up to 4,000 m. Some New World genera live in coastal waters and river estuaries.

Species

There are 66 species in ten genera:

• Genus Coelophrys
  • Coelophrys arca Smith & Radcliffe, 1912.
  • Coelophrys bradburyae Endo & Shinohara, 1999.
  • Coelophrys brevicaudata Brauer, 1902.
  • Coelophrys brevipes Smith & Radcliffe, 1912.
  • Coelophrys mollis Smith & Radcliffe, 1912.
  • Coelophrys oblonga Smith & Radcliffe, 1912.
• Genus Dibranchus
  • Dibranchus accinctus Bradbury, 1999.
  • Atlantic batfish, Dibranchus atlanticus Peters, 1876.
    

    

    Atlantic batfish, Dibranchus atlanticus
  • Dibranchus cracens Bradbury, McCosker & Long, 1999.
  • Dibranchus discors Bradbury, McCosker & Long, 1999.
  • Dibranchus erinaceus (Garman, 1899).
  • Dibranchus hystrix Garman, 1899.
  • Dibranchus japonicus Amaoka & Toyoshima, 1981.
  • Dibranchus nasutus (Cuvier, 1829).
  • Dibranchus nudivomer (Garman, 1899).
  • Dibranchus sparsus (Garman, 1899).
  • Dibranchus spinosus (Garman, 1899).
  • Dibranchus spongiosa (Gilbert, 1890).
  • Dibranchus tremendus Bradbury, 1999.
  • Dibranchus velutinus Bradbury, 1999.
• Genus Halicmetus
  • Halicmetus reticulatus Smith & Radcliffe, 1912.
  • Halicmetus ruber Alcock, 1891.
• Genus Halieutaea
  • Spiny sea bat, Halieutaea brevicauda Ogilby, 1910.
  • Halieutaea coccinea Alcock, 1889.
    

    

    Halieutaea coccinea
  • Circular seabat, Halieutaea fitzsimonsi (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1916).
  • Halieutaea fumosa Alcock, 1894.
  • Hairy seabat, Halieutaea hancocki Regan, 1908.
  • Indian handfish, Halieutaea indica Annandale & Jenkins, 1910.
  • Halieutaea nigra Alcock, 1891.
  • Halieutaea retifera Gilbert, 1905.
  • Starry handfish, Halieutaea stellata (Swainson, 1839).
    

    

    Starry handfish, Halieutaea stellata
• Genus Halieutichthys
  • Pancake batfish, Halieutichthys aculeatus (Mitchill, 1818).
    

    

    Pancake batfish, Halieutichthys aculeatus
• Genus Halieutopsis
  • Halieutopsis andriashevi Bradbury, 1988.
  • Halieutopsis bathyoreos Bradbury, 1988.
  • Halieutopsis galatea Bradbury, 1988.
  • Halieutopsis ingerorum Bradbury, 1988.
  • Halieutopsis margaretae Ho & Shao, 2007.^[3]
  • Halieutopsis micropa (Alcock, 1891).
  • Halieutopsis simula (Smith & Radcliffe, 1912).
  • Halieutopsis stellifera (Smith & Radcliffe, 1912).
  • Halieutopsis tumifrons Garman, 1899.
  • Halieutopsis vermicularis Smith & Radcliffe, 1912.
• Genus Malthopsis
  • Malthopsis annulifera Tanaka, 1908.
  • Malthopsis gnoma Bradbury, 1998.
  • Malthopsis jordani Gilbert, 1905.
  • Longnose seabat, Malthopsis lutea Alcock, 1891.
  • Malthopsis mitrigera Gilbert & Cramer, 1897.
  • Spearnose seabat, Malthopsis tiarella Jordan, 1902.
• Genus Ogcocephalus
  • Longnose batfish, Ogcocephalus corniger Bradbury, 1980.
  • Ogcocephalus cubifrons (Richardson, 1836).
  • Red-lipped batfish, Ogcocephalus darwini Hubbs, 1958.
  • Slantbrow batfish, Ogcocephalus declivirostris Bradbury, 1980.
  • Shortnose batfish, Ogcocephalus nasutus (Cuvier, 1829).
  • Ogcocephalus notatus (Valenciennes, 1837).
  • Spotted batfish, Ogcocephalus pantostictus Bradbury, 1980.

Roughback batfish, Ogcocephalus parvus

• • Roughback batfish, Ogcocephalus parvus Longley & Hildebrand, 1940.
  • Ogcocephalus porrectus Garman, 1899.
  • Ogcocephalus pumilus Bradbury, 1980.
  • Polka-dot batfish, Ogcocephalus radiatus (Mitchill, 1818).
  • Palefin batfish, Ogcocephalus rostellum Bradbury, 1980.
  • Brazilian batfish, Ogcocephalus vespertilio (Linnaeus, 1758).
• Genus Solocisquama
  • Solocisquama carinata Bradbury, 1999.
  • Solocisquama erythrina (Gilbert, 1905).
  • Solocisquama stellulata (Gilbert, 1905).
• Genus Zalieutes
  • Roundel batfish, Zalieutes elater (Jordan & Gilbert, 1882).
  • Tricorn batfish, Zalieutes mcgintyi (Fowler, 1952).

References

1. ^ "Ogcocephalidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
2. ^ Theodore W. Pietsch (2005). "Ogcocephalidae". Tree of Life web project. Retrieved on 4 April 2006.
3. ^ Ho & Shao (2007). "A new species of Halieutopsis (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae) from western north and eastern central Pacific Ocean." (^{dead link}). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 14: 87–92.