Beardfish - WikiHQ

The beardfishes consist of a single extant genus, Polymixia, of deep-sea marine ray-finned fish named for their pair of long hyoid barbels. They are classified in their own order Polymixiiformes . But as Nelson says, "few groups have been shifted back and forth as frequently as this one, and they were recently added to Paracanthoptergii". For instance, they have previously been classified as belonging to the Beryciformes, and are presently considered either paracanthopterygians or the sister group to acanthopterygians. They are of little economic importance.

They are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Ocean. They are bottom-dwelling fish, found down to about depth. Most are relatively small fish, although one species, Polymixia berndti, is over in length. However, tentative earlier records are known from distinctive fossil otoliths from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Texas, USA. Many different fossil families and genera are known from the Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic, in contrast to the relatively few surviving species in a single genus. Extant beardfish can thus be considered "living fossils".

Classification

Order Polymixiiformes Rosen & Patterson, 1969
Genus ?†Allocyclostoma Schwarzhans, Stringer & Welton, 2022 <nowiki/>[<nowiki/>otolith]
†S. beauryi (Schwarzhans, 2010)
†S. bourdoni Stringer & Schwarzhans, 2021
Genus ?†Texoma Schwarzhans, Stringer & Welton, 2022 [otolith]
†C. alabamae Schwarzhans, Huddleston & Takeuchi, 2018
†C. beauryi (Schwarzhans, 2010)
†C. carnevalei Schwarzhans & Stringer, 2020
†C. groenlandicus (Schwarzhans, 2004)
†C. harderi (Schwarzhans, 2003)
†C. lamberi Schwarzhans, Huddleston & Takeuchi, 2018
Genus †Homonotichthys Whitley 1933
†H. dorsalis (Dixon 1850) [Homonotus dorsalis Dixon 1850]
†H. elegans (Dixon 1850) [Homonotus elegans Dixon 1850]
†H. rotundus (Woodward 1902) [Homonotus rotundus Woodward 1902]
Genus †Namicauda Schwarzhans, Ohe & Ando, 2017 [otolith]
†Namicauda pulvinata Schwarzhans, Ohe & Ando, 2017
Genus †Omosoma Costa 1857
†O. garretti Bardack 1976
†O. pulchellum Davis 1887
†O. sahelalmae Costa 1857
†O. tselfatense Gaudant 1978
Genus †Omosomopsis Gaudant 1978
†Omosomopsis sima (Arambourg 1954) Gaudant 1978
Genus †Parapolymixia David 1946
†Parapolymixia californica David 1946
Genus †Pycnosterinx Heckel 1849 [Imogaster Costa 1857]
†P. discoides Heckel 1849
†P. dorsalis Pictet 1850
†P. heckelii Pictet 1850
†P. latus Davis 1887
†P. russeggeri Heckel 1849 [Homonotus pulcher Davis 1886]
Genus Polymixia Lowe 1836 [Dinemus Poey 1860; Nemobrama Valenciennes 1860 non Jordan, Evermann & Clark 1930]
P. berndti Gilbert 1905 (Pacific beardfish)
P. busakhini Kotlyar 1993 (Busakhin's beardfish)
P. carmenae Caixeta, Oliveira & de Melo, 2024 (Brazilian beardfish)
P. hollisterae Grande & Wilson, 2021 (Bermuda beardfish)
P. japonica Günther 1877 (Silver eye)
P. longispina Deng, Xiong & Zhan 1983 [Polymixia kawadae Okamura & Ema 1985]
P. lowei Günther 1859 (Beardfish)
P. nobilis Lowe 1838 [Nemobrama webbii Valenciennes 1837; Dinemus venustus Poey 1860; Polymixia nobilis virginica Nichols & Firth 1936] (Stout beardfish)
†P. polita Schwarzhans 2012 [otolith]
P. salagomeziensis Kotlyar 1991
P. sazonovi Kotlyar 1992
P. yuri Kotlyar 1982thumb|Fossil of [[Polyspinatus]]
Genus †Polyspinatus Schrøder, Rasmussen, Møller & Carnevale, 2022