Bathysauridae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
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
Section: Aulopa
Ordo: Aulopiformes
Subordo: Giganturoidei
Familia: Bathysauridae
Genus: Bathysaurus
Name

Bathysauridae Baldwin & Johnson, 1996
Synonyms

Macristium

References

Joseph S. Nelson: Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN 0-471-25031-7.

Vernacular names
日本語: シンカイエソ科

Bathysaurus ferox

The Bathysauridae are a small family of deepwater aulopiform fish, related to the telescopefishes. The two species in the family both belong to the genus Bathysaurus. Commonly called deepwater lizardfishes or deepsea lizardfishes, the latter name usually refers to the species B. ferox specifically.

Physically, the bathysaurids resemble the lizardfishes, as reflected in their common names. They can be distinguished from the lizardfishes by their flatter heads and curved and barbed teeth. They are moderately sized fish, up to 78 cm (31 in) in length.[1]

Bathysaurids inhabit the deep oceans, below 1,600 m (5,200 ft) depth. They are one of the world's deepest living apex predators, and will not hesitate to eat anything they meet, including their own kind.[1]

Their larvae were originally believed to represent a distinct genus (Macristium) and even family.[citation needed]

The two bathysaurid species, Bathysaurus mollis and Bathysaurus ferox are hermaphrodites, meaning they sport both male and female sex organs, but not much is known about their mating and breeding habits due to the great depth the two species live at.
Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:[2]

Bathysaurus ferox Günther, 1878 (deepsea lizardfish)
Bathysaurus mollis Günther, 1878 (highfin lizardfish)

References

Johnson, R.K. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 126. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). Species of Bathysaurus in FishBase. April 2012 version.