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Myctophidae
| Description | Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μυκτήρ myktḗr, "nose" and ophis, "serpent") are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represented by 246 species in 33 genera, and are found in oceans worldwide. They are aptly named after their conspicuous use of bioluminescence. Their sister family, the Neoscopelidae, are much fewer in number but superficially very similar; at least one neoscopelid shares the common name 'lanternfish': the large-scaled lantern fish, Neoscopelus macrolepidotus. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myctophidae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | family | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Actinopterygii : Myctophiformes : Myctophidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Actinopteri : Myctophiformes : Myctophidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Common Name | lanternfish | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Myctophidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 96 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 42 (44%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 101 - 72 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | marine (based on Vertebrata) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Myctophiformes) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diet | carnivore (based on Myctophiformes) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | phosphatic (based on Vertebrata) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | J. E. Fitch and R. J. Lavenberg. 1983. Teleost fish otoliths from Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina (Yorktown Formation: Pliocene). Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 53:509-529 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Prickfiskar, Lanternfish, Lanternfishes, Linternillas, Lysprikkfiskfamilien, Poissons-lanternes, ハダカイワシ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myctophidae |
External Images
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eomyctophinae ✝ subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 9 | 56.0 Ma Paleocene | 33.9 Ma Oligocene | |
| Lampanyctinae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 259 | 56.0 Ma Paleocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Acrognathus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Benthosema genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Bolinichthys genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Centrobranchus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Ceratoscopelus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Diaphus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Diogenichthys genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Electrona genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Eomyctophum genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Gonichthys genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Gymnoscopelus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Hintonia genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Hygophum genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Idiolychnus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Krefftichthys genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Lampadena genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Lampanyctodes genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Lampanyctus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Lampichthys genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Lepidophanes genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Lobianchia genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 16 | 11.6 Ma Miocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Loweina genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Macrostoma genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Metelectrona genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Myctophum genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Nannobrachium genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Notolychnus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Notoscopelus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Oligophus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Parvilux genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Protomyctophum genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 0 Ma Extant | |||
| Scopelopsis genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 12 | 11.6 Ma Miocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Scopelus genus | listed (PBDB) | 22 | 28.1 Ma Oligocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Stenobrachius genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Symbolophorus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Taaningichthys genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Tarletonbeania genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Triphoturus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
Obsolete Names
| Name | Source | Taxon Rank | Taxonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myctophydae | GBIF | family | Animalia : Chordata : Actinopterygii : Myctophiformes : Myctophydae |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1893 | Myctophidae Gill |
| 1943 | Myctophidae David p. 13 |
| 1960 | Myctophidae Danil'chenko p. 32 |
| 1963 | Myctophidae Jordan p. 655 |
| 1970 | Myctophidae Applegate p. 421 |
| 2003 | Myctophidae Schwarzhans p. 46 |
| 2004 | Myctophidae Gregorova p. 85 |
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Myctophydae Girone et al. p. 655 |
| 2006 | Myctophidae Prokofiev p. S54 |
| 2012 | Myctophidae Fierstine et al. p. 50 |
| 2013 | Myctophidae Betancur-R. et al. |
| 2013 | Myctophidae Denton p. 786 |
| 2017 | Myctophidae Lin et al. p. 16 |
| 2017 | Myctophidae Schwarzhans et al. p. 153 |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
