Beardfish
| Beardfishes | |
|---|---|
| Stout beardfish, Polymixia nobilis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Polymixiiformes |
| Family: | Polymixiidae |
| Genera | |
|
Polymixia Lowe, 1838 |
|
The beardfishes are a small family (Polymixiidae) of deep-sea marine ray-finned fish named for their pair of long hyoid barbels. They have little economic importance.[1]
They are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Ocean. They are bottom-dwelling fish, found down to about 800 metres (2,600 ft) depth. Most are relatively small fish, although one species is over 40 centimetres (16 in) in length.[1]
[edit] Classification
Ten species of the single extant genus Polymixia are known,[2] along with several fossil genera.
At present they are classified in their own order Polymixiiformes,[2] but as Nelson says, "few groups have been shifted back and forth as frequently as this one".[3] For instance, they have previously been classified as belonging to the Beryciformes.
Order Polymixiiformes
- Family Polymixiidae
- Genus Polymixia
- Beardfish, Polymixia lowei Günther, 1859.
- Pacific beardfish, Polymixia berndti Gilbert, 1905.
- Polymixia salagomeziensis Kotlyar, 1991.
- Polymixia fusca Kotthaus, 1970.
- Polymixia yuri Kotlyar, 1982.
- Polymixia longispina Deng, Xiong & Zhan, 1983.
- Stout beardfish, Polymixia nobilis Lowe, 1838.
- Polymixia busakhini Kotlyar, 1993.
- Polymixia sazonovi Kotlyar, 1992.
- Silver eye, Polymixia japonica Günther, 1877.
- Genus Polymixia
[edit] Timeline of genera

[edit] References
- ^ a b Paxton, John R. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 161. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ^ a b Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Polymixiiformes" in FishBase. February 2006 version.
- ^ Joseph S. Nelson. Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-54713-1.
- Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560. http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class. Retrieved 2011-05-17.