Family ACHIROPSETTIDAE

Achiropsettidae

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Introduction

The family Achiropsettidae comprises three genera and five or six species. In Australia, two genera and two species are recognised.

Southern flounders are found in southern oceans off Australia, New Zealand, Africa and South America on the continental shelf and continental slope. They reach a maximum size of 57 cm.

The relationships of the genera to other flatfishes have been debated for some time (see Chapleau 1993). Evseenko (1996) placed the achiropsettids in a separate family, but Hensley & Ahlstrom (1984) suggested a relationship with rhombosoleines in the Pleuronectidae. Evseenko (1996) also placed the species recognised here as Mancopsetta milfordi, the sole species found in Australia, in the genus Neoachiropsetta. Nelson (2006), following Evseenko (1996), recognised four genera in the family.

Heemstra (1990) dealt with all the southern flounders. Evseenko (2000) recognised four species in four monotypic genera as a distinct family, the Achiropsettidae; his current classification places the Achiropsettidae as the sister group to the Samaridae.

General References

Chapleau, F. 1993. Pleuronectiform relationships: a cladistic reassessment. Bulletin of Marine Science 52(1): 516-540 figs 1-7

Evseenko, S.A. 1996. Ontogeny and relationships of the flatfishes of the Southern Ocean (Achiropsettidae, Pleuronectoidei). Voprosy Ikhtiologii 36(6): 725-752 [in Russian, translated in Journal of Ichthyology 36(9): 687-712]

Evseenko, S.A. 2000. Family Achiropsettidae and its position in the taxonomic and ecological classifications of Pleuronectiformes. Journal of Ichthyology 40(Suppl. 1): 110-138

Heemstra, P.C. 1990. Achiropsettidae, southern flounders. pp. 408-413, figs 1-5 in Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown : J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 462 pp.

Hensley, D.A. & Ahlstrom, E.H. 1984. Pleuronectiformes: relationships. pp. 670-687 in Moser, H.G. et al. (eds). Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Special Publication 1: 1-760

Hoese, D. F. & Bray, D.J. 2006. Achiropsettidae. pp. 1824-1825 in Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. Fishes. In, Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 35. Volume 35 Australia : ABRS & CSIRO Publishing Parts 1-3, 2178 pp. [1824]

Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 601 pp.

Common Name References

Nelson, J.S. 1994. Fishes of the World. New York : John Wiley & Sons 600 pp. [438] (Southern Flounders)

History of changes