Argyropelecus
| Silver hatchetfishes | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Argyropelecus lychnus, conventional and X-ray images | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Stomiiformes |
| Family: | Sternoptychidae |
| Subfamily: | Sternoptychinae |
| Genus: | Argyropelecus Cocco, 1829 |
| Diversity | |
| 7 species | |
Argyropelecus is an oceanic ray-finned fish genus which belongs in the family Sternoptychidae. A collective name is "silver hatchetfishes", but this can also refer to a species of the freshwater hatchetfishes which are not particularly closely related but merely convergent. The large pupils of these marine hatchetfishes enable them to see dim objects in the deep sea, where light barely penetrates.
Species
There are currently seven recognized species in this genus:[1]
- Argyropelecus aculeatus Valenciennes, 1850 (Lovely hatchetfish, Atlantic silver hatchetfish)
- Argyropelecus affinis Garman, 1899 (Pacific hatchetfish)
- Argyropelecus gigas Norman, 1930 (Giant hatchetfish, greater silver hatchetfish)
- Argyropelecus hemigymnus Cocco, 1829 (Half-naked hatchetfish, short silver hatchetfish, spurred hatchetfish)
- Argyropelecus lychnus Garman, 1899 (Tropical hatchetfish)
- Argyropelecus olfersi (G. Cuvier, 1829)
- Argyropelecus sladeni Regan, 1908 (Sladen's hatchetfish, silvery hatchetfish)
Fossils of this genus show that they have existed at least since the mid-late Eocene, about 40 million years ago.[2]
References
- ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). Species of Argyropelecus in FishBase. February 2012 version.
- ↑ Sepkoski, Jack (2002): [Argyropelecus]. In: A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: 560. HTML database excerpt
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