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Footballfish

{{Short description|Family of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Himantolophus groenlandicus.png

| image_caption = Himantolophus groenlandicus

| display_parents = 3

| parent_authority = Gill, 1861

| taxon = Himantolophus

| authority = J. C. H. Reinhardt, 1837

| type_species = Himantolophus groenlandicus

| type_species_authority = Reinhardt, 1837

| synonyms = {{Genus list

| Aegoeonichthys | Clarke, 1878

| Corynolophus | Gill, 1878

| Lipactis | Regan, 1925

| Rhynchoceratias | Regan, 1925

}}

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

}}

The footballfish form a family, Himantolophidae, of globose, deep-sea anglerfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean. The family contains 23 species, all of which are classified in a single genus, Himantolophus.

Etymology

The football fish family and genus names are derived from a combination of himantos, which means a "leather strap", "thong" or "leash", with lophus, meaning "crest" or "tuft". Reinhardt did not explain this name but it is thought to refer to the thick, leathery illicium of the type species, H. groenlandicus.{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/lophiiformes2/ |title=Order LOPHIIFORMES (part 2): Families CAULOPHRYNIDAE, NEOCERATIIDAE, MELANOCETIDAE, HIMANTOLOPHIDAE, DICERATIIDAE, ONEIRODIDAE, THAUMATICHTHYIDAE, CENTROPHRYNIDAE, CERATIIDAE, GIGANTACTINIDAE and LINOPHRYNIDAE |author=Christopher Scharpf |date=3 June 2024 |access-date=25 June 2024 |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}

Taxonomy

The footballfish genus, Himantolophus was first proposed as a monospecific genus in 1837 by the Norwegian zoologist Johan Reinhardt when he described Himantolophus groenlandicus.{{Cof family|family=Himantolophidae|access-date=26 June 2024}} Reinhardt gave the type locality of H. groenlandicus as being near Godthaab in Greenland where it had been washed ashore.{{Cof genus|genus=Himantolophus|access-date=26 June 2024}} In 1861 Theodore Gill placed Himantolophus in the new monotypic family Himantolophidae.{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp |year=2014 | title = Family-group names of recent fishes | url = https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue = 2 | pages = 1–230| doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 | pmid = 25543675 | doi-access = free }} The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this family in the suborder Ceratioidei of the anglerfish order Lophiiformes.{{cite book |author1=Nelson, J.S. |author1-link=Joseph S. Nelson |author2=Grande, T.C. |author3=Wilson, M.V.H. |year=2016 |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |place=Hoboken, NJ |pages=508–518 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |lccn=2015037522 |oclc=951899884 |ol=25909650M |doi=10.1002/9781119174844}}

Species and [[species groups]]

There are currently 23 recognized species in this genus{{FishBase genus | genus = Himantolophus| month = February | year = 2024}} and these are divided into species groups as set out below.{{cite book |author=Theodore W. Pietsch Ph.D. |author-link=Theodore Wells Pietsch III |year=2009 |title=Oceanic Anglerfishes: Extraordinary Diversity in the Deep Sea |page=63 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520942554}}

These groups were determined from the morphology of the metamorphosed females, except for brevirostris and rostratus which were determined from males only.

Characteristics

Footballfish are sexually dimorphic with the metamorphosed females and males being very different in appearance. The metamorphosed females are distinguished from other anglerfishes of the suborder Ceratioidei by having a well developed lower jaw which protrudes beyond the snout. They also have a wide vomer which has no teeth, well developed spines on the sphenotic bone, there is a covering of low, rounded papillae on the snout and chin and, at least in larger individuals, there are conical spines in the skin which are scattered over the head and body.

The esca of footballfishes vary in size and morphology, to a greater extent than other deep sea anglerfishes. The metamorphosed males have a line of large spines above and behind the upper denticular bone, their eyes are directed to the sides and have moderately sized and they have a large olfactory system with sideways pointing nostrils. They have between 16 and 31 denticular teeth on the snout and between 20 and 50 on the chin, these teeth merge at their bases to form the upper and lower denticular bones. Their skin has a dense covering of dermal spinules. The larvae are round with a swollen appearance to the skin with pectoral fins that do not extend beyond the dorsal and anal fins, the females have a small club-shaped rudimentary illicium.

The males are considerably smaller than the females, for example in H. groenlandicus the maximum published standard length for a male is {{cvt|4|cm}} while that of a females is {{cvt|60|cm}}.{{Fishbase|Himantolophus|groenlandicus|month=February|year=2024}}

Distribution and habitat

Footballfishes are found in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as the Southern Ocean.

Biology

Footballfishes are one of the ceratioid groups in which the males are free living and non-parasitic on the females. Despite their small size relative to the females, the males are the largest among the free-living male Ceratioids. The males use their highly developed olfactory organs to detect females, once they find a female they attach themselves to her but do not fuse with her (as in the parasitic species). The eggs and larvae are pelagic.{{cite web |author=Dianne J. Bray |title=Footballfishes, HIMANTOLOPHIDAE |work=Fishes of Australia |access-date=27 June 2024 |url=https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/181 |publisher=Museums Victoria}} The specialised teeth on the denticular bones are used to temporarily attach the male to the female.{{cite book |author=Caruso, J.H.|year=2002 |chapter=Order Lophiiformes: Lophiidae |title=The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Atlantic |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |location=Rome |pages=1043-1049}} There are records of 5 females with white, circular scars on their skin, thought to be caused by males that became detached somehow,{{cite journal |author=Theodore W. Pietsch |author-link=Theodore Wells Pietsch III |year=1976 |title=Dimorphism, Parasitism and Sex: Reproductive Strategies among Deepsea Ceratioid Anglerfishes |journal=Copeia |volume=1976 |issue=4 |pages=781-793 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1443462 }} but have alternatively been suggested to be damage from parasitic copepods.{{cite journal |last1=Pietsch |first1=Theodore W. |title=Dimorphism, parasitism, and sex revisited: modes of reproduction among deep-sea ceratioid anglerfishes (Teleostei: Lophiiformes) |journal=Ichthyological Research |date=August 2005 |volume=52 |pages=207–236 |doi=10.1007/s10228-005-0286-2 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10228-005-0286-2 |issn=1341-8998|access-date=1 March 2025|url-access=subscription }}

At the depths at which these fishes live it is dark and food is sparse and rarely encountered. The female footballfish have bioluminescent bacteria in their escas and this is used to attract prey to within striking distance of the mouth. The prey is whatever they can fit into their mouths, and the backward curving teeth ensure that prey are unable to escape. Recorded prey includes fishes, squid and crustaceans.{{Cite web |url=https://www.calacademy.org/learn-explore/specimens-in-focus/pacific-footballfish |title=Our Work Pacific Footballfish |access-date=27 June 2024 |publisher=California Academy of Sciences}}

Further reading

  • {{cite web |date=12 May 2021 |title=Beachgoer discovers rare terrifying 'football fish' on Southern California shore |website=USA Today |author=Jordan Mendoza |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/beachgoer-discovers-rare-terrifying-football-fish-on-southern-california-shore/ar-BB1gCrPS?li=BBnb7Kz}}
  • {{cite web |title=Creature Feature: Football Fish |author=Mike Schaadt |website=Cabrillo Marine Aquarium |url=https://www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org/exhibits/marine-life.asp?id=33}}

Gallery

File:Himantolophus groenlandicus by OpenCage.jpg

File:Hal - Himantolophus groenlandicus 2.jpg

File:Faroese stamp 539 atlantic footballfish.jpg

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

  • Anderson, M. Eric and Leslie, Robin W. (2001). [http://www.bioline.org.br/request?fb01002 "Review of the deep-sea anglerfishes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) of southern Africa"]. Ichthyological Bulletin. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Rhodes University. {{ISSN|0073-4381}}. Retrieved October 31, 2005.
  • Munk, Ole. (1999). [https://www.doi.org/10.1046/j.1463-6395.1999.00023.x "The escal photophore of ceratioids (Pisces; Ceratioidei) — a review of structure and function"]. Acta Zoologica, Vol 80., Issue 4, pp. 265–284. Retrieved October 31, 2005.

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q9292308|from2=Q541816}}

Category:Himantolophidae

Category:Ceratioidei

Category:Deep sea fish

Category:Marine fish genera

Category:Ray-finned fish genera