Spinyfin

Spinyfins
Silver spinyfin, Diretmus argenteus.
from plate 45 of Oceanic Ichthyology by George Brown Goode and Tarleton Hoffman Bean, published 1896
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Beryciformes
Suborder: Trachichthyoidei
Family: Diretmidae
T. N. Gill, 1896
Genera[1]

Diretmichthys
Diretmoides
Diretmus

Spinyfins are a family, Diretmidae, of beryciform fishes. The name is from Greek, di meaning "two" and eretmos meaning "oar". They are found worldwide in deep waters, as deep as 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[2]

As the common name implies, spinyfins have heavy spines along their fins. They have deep, compressed bodies, and almost vertically aligned mouths. They are dark silver in colour, and reach up to 37 cm (15 in) in length.[2]

Fossil species

This family is represented in the fossil record by the extinct Absalomichthys velifer Whitley 1933 from the Late Miocene of Southern California.

Timeline


See also

References

  1. ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). "Diretmidae" in FishBase. October 2012 version.
  2. 1 2 162-163 (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N., ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. axton, John R. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
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