Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Eupercaria
Ordo: Perciformes
Subordo: Percoidei
Superfamilia: Percoidea
Familia: Percidae
Subfamilia: Etheostomatinae
Genus: Ammocrypta
Species: A. beanii – A. bifascia – A. clara – A. meridiana – A. pellucida – A. vivax
A. bifascia - A. clara - A. meridiana - A. pellucida
Name
Ammocrypta Jordan, 1877
References
Ammocrypta – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Ammocrypta species list in FishBase,
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds.) 2022. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication, www.fishbase.org, version 08/2021.
Vernacular names
English: Sand darters
Ammocrypta is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish, commonly known as the sand darters, which is classified in the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae which also includes the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. The species in the genus occur in eastern North America in Canada and the continental United States.[3]
Characteristics
Ammocrypta species are characterised by having rather elongate and slender bodies. Their bodies are translucent and there is only a single spine in the anal fin. They also have Spreitzer vertebrae, that is that the first three vertebrae of the backbone, counting from the head, have an open haemal arch which allows for the fish's kidney to expand. They have the habit of burying into the sand or gravel bed of streams, only their eyes being visible. The translucence of their bodies and their habit of burying themselves gives them some protection against predation.[4]
The shared morphological characteristics of Ammocrypta with its sister taxon Crystallaria include the possession of complete lateral lines and unbroken canal on the head. They also share high meristic counts which are thought to be indications of basal morphology, referred to as plesiomorphies.[4]
Distribution
Ammocrypta is found in eastern North America where thy are found across the central part of the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, the whole of the drainage basin of the Mississippi River and of the Ohio River, the Lake St Clair system as well as the lower drainage basins of Lake Huron and Lake Superior.[5]
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:[3]
Ammocrypta beanii D. S. Jordan, 1877 (Naked sand darter)
Ammocrypta bifascia J. D. Williams, 1975 (Florida sand darter)
Ammocrypta clara D. S. Jordan & Meek, 1885 (Western sand darter)
Ammocrypta meridiana J. D. Williams, 1975 (Southern sand darter)
Ammocrypta pellucida Putnam, 1863 (Eastern sand darter)
Ammocrypta vivax O. P. Hay, 1882 (Scaly sand darter)
Taxonomy
Ammocrypta is the sister taxon of the genus Crystallaria and together these genera are the sister taxon of the clade consisting of the speciose genus Etheostoma and Nothonotus.[4] Some authorities regard Crystallaria as a subgenus of Ammocrypta.[6]
References
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Ammocrypta". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Etheostomatinae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). Species of Ammocrypta in FishBase. February 2014 version.
Carol A. Stepien & Amanda Haponski (2015). "Taxonomy, Distribution, and Evolution of the Percidae". In Patrick Kestemont; Konrad Dabrowski & Robert C. Summerfelt (eds.). Biology and Culture of Percid Fishes. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 3–60. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-7227-3_1. ISBN 978-94-017-7227-3.
Thomas P. Simon; E.J. Tyberghein; K.J. Scheiddeger & C.E. Johnston (1992). "Descriptions of protolarvae of sand darters (Percidae: Ammocrypta and Crystallaria) with comments on systematic relationships". Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters. 3 (4): 347–358.
J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 448–450. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
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