Spikefish

Spikefishes
Temporal range: Oligocene–Recent
Parahollardia lineata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Suborder: Balistoidei
Family: Triacanthodidae
Genera [1]

The spikefishes (family Triacanthodidae) are ray-finned fishes related to the pufferfishes and triggerfishes. They live in deep waters, below 50 metres (160 ft), but above the continental shelves. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and the west-central Pacific.[2]

The spikefishes are quite variable in form, with some species having tubular snouts (greatly elongated in Halimochirurgus and Macrorhamphosodes), and others have spoon-like teeth for scraping the scales off other fishes. Depending on the exact species involved, they reach a maximum length of about 5–22 centimetres (2.0–8.7 in).

References

  1. ↑ Matsuura, K. (2014). "Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014". Ichthyological Research. 62 (1): 72–113. doi:10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5.
  2. ↑ Matsuura, K.; Tyler, J.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N., eds. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 227–228. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.


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