Diceratias

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
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Eupercaria
Ordo: Lophiiformes
Subordo: Ogcocephalioidei
Superfamilia: Ceratioidea

Familia: Diceratiidae
Genus: Diceratias
Species: D. bispinosus – D. pileatus – D. trilobus
Name

Diceratias Günther, 1887

Gender: masculine

Type species: Ceratias bispinosus Günther, 1887, by monotypy.
Synonyms

Aeschynichthys Ogilby, 1907
Paroneirodes Alcock, 1890

References

Günther, A. (1887) Report on the deep-sea fishes collected by H. M. S. Challenger during the years 1873-76. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger v. 22 (pt 57): i-lxv + 1-268, Pls. 1-66.

Links

Diceratias – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Diceratias is a genus of deep sea marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Diceratiidae, the double anglers. These fishes are found in the Eastern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.
Taxonomy

Diceratias was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1887 by the German-born British herpetologist and ichthyologist Albert Günther when he described Diceratias bispinosus.[1] When he described D. bispinosus Günther gave the type locality as off Banda Island at a depth of 360 fathoms (2,160 ft; 660 m) on the Challenger expedition of 1872-1876.[2] This genus is one of two genera in the family Diceratiidae which the 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies within the suborder Ceratioidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.[3]
Etymology

Diceratias prefixes di, meaning "two" onto the genus name Ceratias. This genus was thought to be a subgenus of Ceratias with two cephalic spines instead of one.[4]
Species

Diceratias contains the following species:[5]

Diceratias bispinosus Günther, 1887 (Two-rod anglerfish)
Diceratias pileatus Uwate, 1979
Diceratias trilobus Balushkin & Fedorov, 1986

Characteristics

Direcatias doubleanglers are sexually dimorphic. The metamorphosed females can be separated from other females in the suborder Ceratioidei by the possession of a second, club-like exposed cephalic spine bearing a bioluminescent organ at its tip. In this genus the spine is on the snout rather than being located at the back of the head as in Bufoceratias, the forward tip of the illicium's pterygiophore is exposed while in Bufoceratias it is hiddden and it has a deep trough it can be retracted into. The spine is shorter than in Bufoceratias having a length equivalent to between 27% and 47% of the standard length. They also have a large mouth which reaches back beyond the eye, a well developed spine on the symphysis of the mandible which reaches just past the maxilla, the presence of vomerine teeth, there are large spines in the skin,[6][7] the dorsal fin has between five and seven rays while the anal fin has four rays and they have a small small pelvic bone which is joined to the cleithrum. The second cephalic spine is positioned directly behind the base of the first cephalic spine, or illicium[3] and can be pulled down beneath the skin in individuals with a total length greater than 1.3 cm (0.51 in) leaving a small pore to show its location.[8] The males have spinules in the skin, they have two teeth on the snout and two transverse rows of 4 or 5 teeth on the lower jaw, all separate from each other. The eyes and nostrils of the males are directed laterally.[9] The largest species in the genus is D.pileatus with a maximum published standard length for a metamorphosed female of 23.5 cm (9.3 in).[5]
Distribution and habitat

Diceratias double anglers are found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific, they are bathypelagic fishes which are found in tropical and subtropical waters, on or near the continental shelf at depths between 533 and 2,306 m (1,749 and 7,566 ft).[10]
References

Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Diceratiidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Diceratias". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
Nelson, J.S.; Grande, T.C.; Wilson, M.V.H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 508–518. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. LCCN 2015037522. OCLC 951899884. OL 25909650M.
Christopher Scharpf (3 June 2024). "Order LOPHIIFORMES (part 2): Families CAULOPHRYNIDAE, NEOCERATIIDAE, MELANOCETIDAE, HIMANTOLOPHIDAE, DICERATIIDAE, ONEIRODIDAE, THAUMATICHTHYIDAE, CENTROPHRYNIDAE, CERATIIDAE, GIGANTACTINIDAE and LINOPHRYNIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2024). Species of Diceratias in FishBase. February 2024 version.
Ken Uwate (1979). "Revision of the Anglerfish Diceratiidae with Descriptions of Two New Species". Copeia. 1979 (1): 129–144. doi:10.2307/1443739.
Theodore W. Pietsch; Ho Hsuan-ching; and Chen Hong-ming. "Revision of the Deep-Sea Anglerfish Genus Bufoceratias Whitley (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei: Diceratiidae), with Description of a New Species from the Indo-West Pacific Ocean". Copeia. 2004 (1): 98–107.
Theodore W Pietsch (2022). "Order Lophiiformes". In Phillip C Heemstra; Elaine Heemstra; David A Ebert; Wouter Holleman; John E Randall (eds.). Coastal Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean (PDF). Vol. 2. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. pp. 281–307. ISBN 978-1-990951-29-9.
E. Bertelsen and Theodore W. Pietsch (1983). "The Ceratioid Anglerfishes of Australia" (PDF). Records of the Australian Museum. 35: 77–93.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2024). "Direatias bispinosus" in FishBase. February 2024 version.