Overview
Gempylidae is a family of perciform fishes, commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars.
They are elongate fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or finlets trailing it. The largest species, including the snoek, Thyrsites atun, grow up to two metres long. Like the barracudas, they are predators, with fang-like teeth.1]
They are deep-water benthopelagic fishes, and several species are important commercial and game fishes.
Species
There are 24 species in sixteen genera:
- Genus Diplospinus
- Striped escolar, Diplospinus multistriatus Maul, 1948.
- Genus Epinnula
- Domine, Epinnula magistralis Poey, 1854.
- Genus Gempylus
- Snake mackerel, Gempylus serpens Cuvier, 1829.
- Genus Lepidocybium
- Escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (Smith, 1843).
- Genus Nealotus
- Black snake mackerel, Nealotus tripes Johnson, 1865.
- Genus Neoepinnula
- American sackfish, Neoepinnula americana (Grey, 1953).
- Sackfish, Neoepinnula orientalis (Gilchrist & von Bonde, 1924).
- Genus Nesiarchus
- Black gemfish, Nesiarchus nasutus Johnson, 1862.
Black gemfish, Nesiarchus nasutus
- Black gemfish, Nesiarchus nasutus Johnson, 1862.
- Genus Paradiplospinus
- Antarctic escolar, Paradiplospinus antarcticus Andriashev, 1960.
- Slender escolar, Paradiplospinus gracilis (Brauer, 1906).
- Genus Promethichthys
- Roudi escolar, Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier, 1832).
Roudi escolar, Promethichthys prometheus
- Roudi escolar, Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier, 1832).
- Genus Rexea
- Rexea alisae Roberts & Stewart, 1997.
- Long-finned escolar, Rexea antefurcata Parin, 1989.
- Bengal escolar, Rexea bengalensis (Alcock, 1894).
- Short-lined escolar, Rexea brevilineata Parin, 1989.
- Nakamura's escolar, Rexea nakamurai Parin, 1989.
- Royal escolar, Rexea prometheoides (Bleeker, 1856).
- Silver gemfish or Gemfish, Rexea solandri (Cuvier, 1832).
- Genus Rexichthys
- Paxton's escolar, Rexichthys johnpaxtoni Parin & Astakhov, 1987.
- Genus Ruvettus
- Oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus Cocco, 1833.
- Genus Thyrsites
- Snoek, Thyrsites atun (Euphrasen, 1791).
- Genus Thyrsitoides
- Black snoek, Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929.
- Genus Thyrsitops
- White snake mackerel, Thyrsitops lepidopoides (Cuvier, 1832).
- Genus Tongaichthys
- Tonga escolar, Tongaichthys robustus Nakamura & Fujii, 1983.
The longfin escolar, Scombrolabrax heterolepis, was formerly classified in this family, but it is now placed in its own family Scombrolabracidae.
Timeline
They are deep-water benthopelagic fishes, and several species are important commercial and game fishes.
Species
There are 24 species in sixteen genera:
- Genus Diplospinus
- Striped escolar, Diplospinus multistriatus Maul, 1948.
- Ge
nus Epinnula
- Domine, Epinnula magistralis Poey, 1854.
- Genus Gempylus
- Snake mackerel, Gempylus serpens Cuvier, 1829.
- Genus Lepidocybium
- Escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (Smith, 1843).
- Genus Nealotus
- Black snake mackerel, Nealotus tripes Johnson, 1865.
- Genus Neoepinnula
- American sackfish, Neoepinnula americana (Grey, 1953).
- Sackfish, Neoepinnula orientalis (Gilchrist & von Bonde, 1924).
- Genus Nesiarchus
- Black gemfish, Nesiarchus nasutus Johnson, 1862.Black gemfish, Nesiarchus nasutus
- Black gemfish, Nesiarchus nasutus Johnson, 1862.
- Genus Paradiplospinus
- Antarctic escolar, Paradiplospinus antarcticus Andriashev, 1960.
- Slender escolar, Paradiplospinus gracilis (Brauer, 1906).
- Genus Promethichthys
- Roudi escolar, Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier, 1832).Roudi escolar, Promethichthys prometheus
- Roudi escolar, Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier, 1832).
- Genus Rexea
- Rexea alisae Roberts & Stewart, 1997.
- Long-finned escolar, Rexea antefurcata Parin, 1989.
- Bengal escolar, Rexea bengalensis (Alcock, 1894).
- Short-lined escolar, Rexea brevilineata Parin, 1989.
- Nakamura's escolar, Rexea nakamurai Parin, 1989.
- Royal escolar, Rexea prometheoides (Bleeker, 1856).
- Silver gemfish or Gemfish, Rexea solandri (Cuvier, 1832).
- Genus Rexichthys
- Paxton's escolar, Rexichthys johnpaxtoni Parin & Astakhov, 1987.
- Genus Ruvettus
- Oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus Cocco, 1833.
- Genus Thyrsites
- Snoek, Thyrsites atun (Euphrasen, 1791).
- Genus Thyrsitoides
- Black snoek, Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929.
- Genus Thyrsitops
- White snake mackerel, Thyrsitops lepidopoides (Cuvier, 1832).
- Genus Tongaichthys
- Tonga escolar, Tongaichthys robustus Nakamura & Fujii, 1983.
The longfin escolar, Scombrolabrax heterolepis, was formerly classified in this family, but it is now placed in its own family Scombrolabracidae.
Timeline
References
- ^ Johnson, G.D. & Gill, A.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academ ic Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Gempylidae" in FishBase. February 2006 version.
- Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: p.560. http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
External links
Taxonomy
The Family Gempylidae is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Genus (14): Diplospinus · Epinnula · Gempylus · Jordanidia · Lepidocybium · Nealotus · Nesiarchus · Promethichthys · Rexea · Ruvettus · Thrysites · Thyrsites · Thyrsitoides · Thyrsitops
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 51 species and subspecies in the Family Gempylidae.
Genera
Diplospinus
Epinnula
The domine is a tropical fish in the family Gempylidae (snake mackerels). Domine are deepwater fish so are not frequently caught by fishermen. It is considered rare, but is not listed in the IUCN Red List. [more]
Gempylus
Jordanidia
Lepidocybium
The escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, a species of fish in the family Gempylidae, is found in deep (200?885 m) tropical and temperate waters around the world. It is also known as snake mackerel, and sometimes is marketed as "butterfish" or "white tuna", a controversial practice due to potential health problems related with consumption of the fish. [more]
Nealotus
Nesiarchus
Promethichthys
Rexea
Ruvettus
The oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus, is a species of snake mackerel in the family Gempylidae, and the only species in the genus Ruvettus. It is found in the Mediterranean, middle Atlantic and throughout the southern seas, at depths between 100 and 800 m. Its length is between 80 cm and 2 m. [more]
Thrysites
Thyrsites
Thyrsites atun, the "snoek" or "Cape snoek", is a long, thin, perch-like commercial food fish belonging to the Gempylidae family. It is found in the seas of the Southern Hemisphere. It is also known in Australasia as barracouta though it is not related to the barracuda. [more]
Thyrsitoides
Thyrsitops
At least 4 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Thyrsitops.
More info about the Genus Thyrsitops may be found here.
References
- ^ Johnson, G.D. & Gill, A.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
Sources
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