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Pagetopsis macropterus

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Species of fish

Pagetopsis macropterus
P. macropterus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Channichthyidae
Genus: Pagetopsis
Species: P. macropterus
Binomial name
Pagetopsis macropterus
(Boulenger, 1907)
Synonyms
  • Champsocephalus macropterus Boulenger, 1907

Pagetopsis macropterus species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Channichthyidae, the crocodile icefishes. This species is found in the Southern Ocean.

Taxonomy

Pagetopsis macropterus was first formally described in 1907 as Champsocephalus macropterus by the Belgian-born British ichthyologist George Albert Boulenger with the type locality given as near Cape Armitage, Ross Island in Victoria Land. When Charles Tate Regan described the genus Pagetopsis this was its type species by monotypy. The specific name macropterus means "large finned" an allusion to the large dorsal and pelvic fins, especially those of juveniles.

Description

Pagetopsis macropterus has around 15 narrow dark bars, lighter at the center, on its grayish green body and dark stripes on its cheeks but has a whitish ventral area. It grows to a maximum length of 33 cm (13 in) and lives at depths of 5 to 655 m (16 to 2,149 ft). The dorsal fins contain 12-15 spines and 27-32 soft rays while the anal fin has 24-27 soft rays. It has a large mouth with the maxilla reaching a level with the front third of the eye and this has two rows of conical teeth in each jaw. The caudal fin is almost truncate but can be rounded.

Distribution, habitat and biology

Pagetopsis macropterus has a circum-Antarctic distribution on the continental shelf and the South Shetland Islands. It is a demersal fish which occurs at depths between 5 and 655 m (16 and 2,149 ft). The defense posture, noted in a study in 1969, is opening the mouth wide, expanding the corner of the mouth and the opercula, erecting the dorsal fin, holding the flared pectoral fins at a right angle towards the body, and bending the body into a semicircle. The same study suggested that this behavior was developed to deter predators such as the Weddell seal (which preys heavily on this species). Adults feed on fishes and krill. It is of no interest to commercial fisheries.

References

  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Pagetopsis macropterus". FishBase. June 2021 version.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Pagetopsis". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  3. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Channichthyidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 April 2021). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Notothenoididei: Families Bovichtidae, Pseaudaphritidae, Elegopinidae, Nototheniidae, Harpagiferidae, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Channichthyidae and Percophidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  5. ^ T. Iwami and K-H Koch (1990). "Channicthyidae Icefishes". In O. Gon and P.C. Heemstra (eds.). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. ISBN 9780868102115.
Taxon identifiers
Pagetopsis macropterus
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