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viviparous brotula

{{Short description|Family of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Viviparous brotulas

| image = Hephthocara simum.jpg

| image_caption = Hephthocara simum

| taxon = Bythitidae

| authority = T. N. Gill, 1861

| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies

| subdivision = See text

}}

The viviparous brotulas form a family, the Bythitidae, of ophidiiform fishes. They are known as viviparous brotulas as they generally bear live young,{{cite book |editor1=Paxton, J.R. |editor2=Eschmeyer, W.N. |author= Nielsen, Jørgen G.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|page= 134|isbn= 0-12-547665-5}} although there are indications that some species (at least Didymothallus criniceps) do not.Nielsen; Schwarzhans; and Hadiaty (2009). A blind, new species of Diancistrus (Teleostei, Bythitidae) from three caves on Muna Island, southeast of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Cybium 33(3): 241–245. They are generally infrequently seen, somewhat tadpole-like in overall shape and mostly about {{convert|5|-|10|cm|in|abbr=on|0}} in length, but some species grow far larger and may surpass {{convert|60|cm|ft|abbr=on|0}}.{{FishBase genus | genus = Cataetyx | month = April| year = 2017}}{{FishBase genus | genus = Grammonus | month = April| year = 2017}}

Although many live near the coast in tropical or subtropical oceans, there are also species in deep water and cold oceans, for example Bythites.{{FishBase genus | genus = Bythites | month = April| year = 2017}} Thermichthys hollisi, which lives at depths of around {{convert|2500|m|ft|abbr=on}}, is associated with thermal vents.{{FishBase genus | genus = Thermichthys | species = hollisi | month = April| year = 2017}} A few are fresh or brackish water cavefish: the Mexican blind brotula (Typhliasina pearsei), Galapagos cuskeel (Ogilbia galapagosensis), Diancistrus typhlops and some Lucifuga species.Romero, A., editor (2001). The Biology of Hypogean Fishes. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. {{ISBN|978-1402000768}}

Since 2002, more than 110 new species have been added to this family.{{cite web | url=http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/SpeciesByFamily.asp | title=CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes - Genera/Species by Family/Subfamily }}

In 2005, 26 new species were described in a single paper by Danish and German scientists{{cite journal | journal = The Beagle, Records of the Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory | volume = 21 | year = 2005 | pages = 73–163 | title = Review of the Dinematichthyini (Teleostei: Bythitidae) of the Indo-West Pacific. Part I. Diancistrus and Two New Genera with 26 New Species | url=http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=012814779649528;res=IELHSS |author1=Schwarzhans, Werner |author2=Møller, Peter Rask |author3=Nielsen, Jørgen G. }} and in 2007, an additional eight new genera with 20 new species were described in another paper by the same scientists.{{cite journal | journal = The Beagle, Records of the Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory | volume = 23 | year = 2007 | pages = 29–110 | title = Review of the Dinematichthyini (Teleostei, Bythitidae) of the Indo-West pacific. Part III. Beaglichthys, Brosmolus, Monothrix and 8 new genera with description of 20 new species. | author = Schwarzhans & Møller}}

In some classifications the family Aphyonidae is placed within the Bythitidae and the tribe Dinematichthyini of the subfamily Brosmophycinae has been raised to the status of a family, the Dinematichthyidae which contains 25 genera and 114 species.{{cite journal | author1 = Møller PR | author2 = Knudsen SW | author3 = Schwarzhans W | author4 = Nielsen JG | year = 2016 | title = A new classification of viviparous brotulas (Bythitidae) - with family status for Dinematichthyidae - based on molecular, morphological and fossil data | pmid = 27060424 | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume = 100 | pages = 391–408 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.008}} Abstract

The Bythitidae is divided as follows:

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{FishBase family | family = Bythitidae | month = June| year = 2012}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1335355}}

Category:Bythitidae

Category:Viviparous fish