Gempylidae is a family of perciform fishes, commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars.
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Gempylidae is a family of perciform fishes, commonly known as
snake mackerels or
escolars.
They are elongate fishes with a similar appearance to
barracudaThe barracuda is a ray-finned fish known for its large size and fearsome appearance. Its body is long, fairly compressed, and covered with small, smooth scales. Some species could reach up to 1.8m in length and 30cm in width...
s, having a long
dorsal finA dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of some fish, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, as well as the ichthyosaurs. Depending on the species, an animal can have up to three of them. Its main purpose is to stabilize the animal against rolling and assist in sudden turns...
, usually with one or finlets trailing it. The largest species, including the
snoekSnoek or Snook is used in various forms as the common name used for several species of fish.-Order Perciformes :* Family Centropomidae ** Centropomus ensiferus** Centropomus parallelus** Centropomus undecimalis...
,
Thyrsites atunThe Thyrsites atun, a.k.a. 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 nor should it be confused with Barracuda....
, grow up to two metres long. Like the barracudas, they are predators, with fang-like teeth.
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
The domine is a tropical fish in the family Gempylidae . Domine are deepwater fish so are not frequently caught by fishermen. It is considered rare, but is not listed in the IUCN Red List....
, Epinnula magistralis PoeyFelipe Poey y Aloy was a Cuban zoologist.-Biography:Poey was born in Havana, the son of French and Spanish parents. He spent several years of his life in Pau then studied law in Madrid. He became a lawyer in Spain but was forced to leave due to his liberal ideas, returning to Cuba in 1823...
, 1854.
- Genus Gempylus
- Snake mackerel
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...
, Gempylus serpens CuvierGeorges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier was a French naturalist and zoologist. Of humble working class origins, he belonged to a new class of self-made scholars who worked their way to the top of academe...
, 1829.
- Genus Lepidocybium
- Escolar
The escolar, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, is a species of fish in the family Gempylidae, the only species in the genus Lepidocybium. It is found in deep tropical and temperate waters around the world. It is also marketed as "butterfish". -Biology:The escolar is dark brown in colour, growing darker...
, 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.
- Genus Paradiplospinus
- Antarctic escolar, Paradiplospinus antarcticus Andriashev, 1960.
- Slender escolar, Paradiplospinus gracilis (Brauer, 1906).
- Genus Promethichthys
- Roudi escolar, Promethichthys prometheus (Cuvier
Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier was a French naturalist and zoologist. Of humble working class origins, he belonged to a new class of self-made scholars who worked their way to the top of academe...
, 1832).
- Genus Rexea
- Rexea alisae Roberts & Stewart, 1997.
- Long-finned escolar, Rexea antefurcata Parin, 1989.
- Bengal escolar, Rexea bengalensis (Alcock
Alfred William Alcock was a British physician naturalist and carcinologist.Alcock was the son of a sea-captain, John Alcock in Bombay, India who retired to live in Blackheath...
, 1894).
- Short-lined escolar, Rexea brevilineata Parin, 1989.
- Nakamura's escolar, Rexea nakamurai Parin, 1989.
- Royal escolar, Rexea prometheoides (Bleeker
Pieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia....
, 1856).
- Silver gemfish
The silver gemfish or gemfish, Rexea solandri, is a snake mackerel of the genus Rexea, found in south eastern Australia and around New Zealand at depths of between 100 and 700 m...
or Gemfish, Rexea solandri (CuvierGeorges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier was a French naturalist and zoologist. Of humble working class origins, he belonged to a new class of self-made scholars who worked their way to the top of academe...
, 1832).
- Genus Rexichthys
- Paxton's escolar, Rexichthys johnpaxtoni Parin & Astakhov, 1987.
- Genus Ruvettus
- Oilfish
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 of between 100 and 800 m...
, Ruvettus pretiosus Cocco, 1833.
- Genus Thyrsites
- Snoek, Thyrsites atun
The Thyrsites atun, a.k.a. 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 nor should it be confused with Barracuda....
(Euphrasen, 1791).
- Genus Thyrsitoides
- Black snoek, Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929.
- Genus Thyrsitops
- White snake mackerel, Thyrsitops lepidopoides (Cuvier
Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier was a French naturalist and zoologist. Of humble working class origins, he belonged to a new class of self-made scholars who worked their way to the top of academe...
, 1832).
- Genus Tongaichthys
- Tonga escolar, Tongaichthys robustus Nakamura & Fujii, 1983.
The
longfin escolarThe longfin escolar, Scombrolabrax heterolepis, also known as the black mackerel, is a widespread but uncommon deep sea fish that presents some difficulties for taxonomy....
,
Scombrolabrax heterolepis, was formerly classified in this family, but it is now placed in its own family Scombrolabracidae.