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: Ophidiaria
Ordo: Ophidiiformes
Familia: Ophidiidae
Subfamiliae: Brotulinae - Brotulotaeniinae - Neobythitinae - Ophidiinae
Name
Ophidiidae Rafinesque, 1810
References
Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World, fourth edition. John Wiley, Hoboken, 624 pp. ISBN 0-471-25031-7. ISBN 978-0-471-25031-9. Reference page.
Nielsen, J. G., D. M. Cohen, D. F. Markle, and C. R. Robins. 1999. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 18. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearl-fishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis. No. 125. [1]
Ophidiidae – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Vernacular names
Deutsch: Brotulas
English: cusk eel
magyar: Kígyóhalfélék
lietuvių: Brotulinės Gyvatinės Menkės
Nederlands: Naaldvissen
polski: wyślizgowate
русский: Ошибни
The cusk-eel family, Ophidiidae, is a group of marine bony fishes in the Ophidiiformes order. The scientific name is from the Greek ophis meaning "snake", and refers to their eel-like appearance. True eels diverged from other ray-finned fish during the Jurassic, while cusk-eels are part of the Percomorpha clade, along with tuna, perch, seahorses and others.
The oldest fossil cusk-eel is Ampheristus, a highly successful genus with numerous species that existed from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the early Oligocene.[1][2]
Distribution
Cusk-eels lives in temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world. They live close to the sea bottom, ranging from shallow water to the hadal zone. One species, Abyssobrotula galatheae, was recorded at the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench, making it the deepest recorded fish at 8,370 m (27,460 ft).[3][4]
Ecology
Cusk-eels are generally very solitary in nature, but some species have been seen to associate themselves with tube worm communities.[5] Liking to be hidden when they are not foraging, they generally associate themselves within muddy bottoms, sinkholes, or larger structures that they can hide in or around, such as caves, coral crevices, or communities of bottom-dwelling invertebrates, with some parasitic species of cusk-eel actually living inside of invertebrate hosts, such as oysters, clams and sea cucumbers.[5] Cusk-eels generally feed nocturnally, preying on invertebrates, crustaceans and other small bottom-dwelling fishes.
Phylogeny
Due to the inconsistencies in specific morphological characteristics in closely related species, attempts to use different characters, such as the position of pelvic fins, to classify Ophiididae into distinct families has proven highly unsatisfactory. Overall, Ophidiidae are classified based on whether or not they practice viviparity and the structures they contain that are associated with bearing life.[5]
Characteristics
Cusk-eels are characterized by a long, slender body that is about 12–13 times as long as it is deep. The largest species, Lamprogrammus shcherbachevi, grows up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in length, but most species are shorter than 1 m (3.3 ft). Their dorsal and anal fins are typically continuous with the caudal fin (with exception to a few species), forming a long, ribbon like fin around the posterior of the cusk-eel's body.[6] This caudal fin will often be seen to be reduced to a fleshy or bony point, especially when confluent with the dorsal and anal fins. The dorsal fin to anal fin ray ratio is approximately 1.5:1, leading to the dorsal fin typically being longer than the anal. The pectoral fins of cusk-eels are typically longer than the length of their head. Unlike true eels of the order Anguilliformes, cusk-eels have ventral fins that are developed into a forked barbel-like organ below the mouth. In true eels by contrast, the ventral fins are never well-developed and usually missing entirely.[7] Cusk-eels have large mouths relative to their heads, with the upper jaw reaching beyond the eye, and paired nostrils on either side of the head. In cusk-eels, scales are potentially absent; when present, they are small.[6]
Reproduction
Unlike their close relatives, the viviparous brotulas of the family Bythitidae, cusk-eel species are egg-bearing, or oviparous, organisms. While the specifics of the eggs of the family Ophidiidae are unknown, they are believed to be either spawned as individual, free-floating eggs in the open water or are placed in a mucilaginous raft, which will float for several days until they hatch into cusk-eel larvae. These larvae live amongst the plankton relatively close to the water's surface[3] and are believed to control their metamorphoses into adult cusk-eels, dispersing over greater distances into less utilized habitats and reducing competition in concentrated areas.[5]
Conservation status
While a few species are fished commercially – most notably the pink cusk-eel, Genypterus blacodes – and several species of the order Ophidiiformes are listed as vulnerable, not enough information has been gathered about Ophidiidae as a whole to determine their conservation status.
Genera
The cusk-eel family contains about 240 species, grouped into 50 genera:[8]
Genus †Ampheristus (extinct)[2]
Subfamily Brotulinae
Genus Brotula – typical brotulas
Subfamily Brotulotaenilinae
Genus Brotulotaenia
Subfamily Neobythitinae
Genus Abyssobrotula
Genus Acanthonus – boney-eared assfish
Genus Alcockia
Genus Apagesoma
Genus Barathrites
Genus Barathrodemus
Genus Bassogigas
Genus Bassozetus
Genus Bathyonus
Genus Benthocometes
Genus Dannevigia – Australian tusk
Genus Dicrolene
Genus Enchelybrotula
Genus Epetriodus – needletooth cusk
Genus Eretmichthys
Genus Glyptophidium
Genus Holcomycteronus
Genus Homostolus – filament cusk
Genus Hoplobrotula
Genus Hypopleuron – whiptail cusk
Genus Lamprogrammus
Genus Leptobrotula
Genus Leucicorus
Genus Luciobrotula
Genus Mastigopterus
Genus Monomitopus
Genus Neobythites
Genus Neobythitoides
Genus Penopus
Genus Petrotyx
Genus Porogadus
Genus Pycnocraspedum
Genus Selachophidium – Gunther's cusk-eel
Genus Sirembo
Genus Spectrunculus
Genus Spottobrotula
Genus Tauredophidium
Genus Tenuicephalus
Genus Typhlonus
Genus Ventichthys – East-Pacific ventbrotula
Genus Xyelacyba
Subfamily Ophidiinae
Genus Cherublemma – black brotula
Genus Chilara – spotted cusk-eel
Genus Genypterus
Genus Lepophidium
Genus Menziesichthys
Genus Ophidion
Genus Otophidium
Genus Parophidion
Genus Raneya – banded cusk-eel
References
Schwarzhans, Werner; Stringer, Gary L. (2020-05-06). "Fish Otoliths from the Late Maastrichtian Kemp Clay (Texas, Usa) and the Early Danian Clayton Formation (Arkansas, Usa) and an Assessment of Extinction and Survival of Teleost Lineages Across the K-Pg Boundary Based on Otoliths". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 126 (2). doi:10.13130/2039-4942/13425. ISSN 2039-4942.
"PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
Nielsen, Jørgen G. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 134. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
"What is the deepest-living fish?". Australian Museum. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
"Ophidiiformes (Cusk-Eels and Relatives) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
Bigelow, Andrew (2002). Bigelow and Schroeder's fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Ophidiidae". FishBase. February 2006 version.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Ophidiidae". FishBase. December 2008 version.
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