Ghost flathead
Encyclopedia
Hoplichthyidae is a family of scorpaeniform fishes native to the Indo-Pacific
Oceans, commonly known as ghost flatheads. There is a single genus, Hoplichthys.
They are elongate fishes with very broad and strongly depressed heads, bearing spines and ridges. They are scale
less. The lateral line
contains spiny scute
s. The pectoral fin has three or four lower rays free. The pelvic fins are widely set apart. They are benthic from about 10 to 1,500 m, with a maximum length of 43 cm.
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...
Oceans, commonly known as ghost flatheads. There is a single genus, Hoplichthys.
They are elongate fishes with very broad and strongly depressed heads, bearing spines and ridges. They are scale
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
less. The lateral line
Lateral line
The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
contains spiny scute
Scute
A scute or scutum is a bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, the feet of some birds or the anterior portion of the mesonotum in insects.-Properties:...
s. The pectoral fin has three or four lower rays free. The pelvic fins are widely set apart. They are benthic from about 10 to 1,500 m, with a maximum length of 43 cm.
Species
- Hoplichthys acanthopleurus Regan, 1908
- Hoplichthys citrinus Gilbert, 1905
- Hoplichthys fasciatus Matsubara, 1937
- Hoplichthys filamentosus Matsubara & Ochiai, 1950
- Hoplichthys gilberti JordanDavid Starr JordanDavid Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
& RichardsonJohn Richardson (naturalist)Sir John Richardson was a Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and arctic explorer.Richardson was born at Dumfries. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled with John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage on the Coppermine Expedition of...
, 1908 - Armoured flatheadArmoured flatheadThe armoured flathead or deepsea flathead, Hoplichthys haswelli, is a ghost flathead of the family Hoplichthyidae, found in the southwest Pacific Ocean, at depths between 140 and 700 m...
, Hoplichthys haswelli McCulloch, 1907 - Hoplichthys langsdorfii CuvierGeorges CuvierGeorges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier , known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist...
, 1829 - Hoplichthys ogilbyi McCulloch, 1914
- Hoplichthys pectoralis (Fowler, 1943)
- Hoplichthys platophrys Gilbert, 1905
- Ghost flathead, Hoplichthys regani JordanDavid Starr JordanDavid Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
, 1908