Family BATHYDRACONIDAE

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Introduction

Bathydraconidae are group of small benthic fishes that are mostly endemic to the Southern Ocean, although some species have been recorded from sub-Antarctic islands. Most species occur over the Antarctic continental shelf and slope from shallow inshore waters down to a depth of about 3000 m. They range in size from about 17 to 60 cm, but most are less than 30 cm (Gon 1990).

Included are 11 genera and 16 species, 12 of which are recorded from waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory, Macquarie Island, and Heard and McDonald Islands. Balushkin & Voskoboinikova (1995) reviewed the Bathydraconidae, recognising 10 genera and 16 species in two subfamilies: the Gymnodraconinae (Gymnodracoo and Psilodraco) and the Bathydraconinae (remaining 8 genera). They questioned the validity of Bathydraco joannae DeWitt, 1985, excluding it from their classification (Balushkin & Voskoboinikova 1995). Skora (1995) described an eleventh genus with one species: Acanthodraco dewitti. Eastman & Eakin (2000) and Balushkin (2000) now include B. joannae as a valid species. There is evidence that the group is not monophyletic (Near et al. 2004; Dettai et al. 2012; Near et al. 2012) and future studies may lead to changes in the classification presented here.

General References

Balushkin, A.V. 2000. Morphology, classification, and evolution of notothenioid fishes of the Southern Ocean (Notothenioidei, Perciformes). Journal of Ichthyology 40(Supplement 1): 74-109

Eastman, J.T. & Eakin, R.R. 2000. An updated species list for notothenioid fish (Perciformes; Notothenioidei), with comments on Antarctic species. Archive of Fishery and Marine Research 48(1): 11-20

Gon, O. 1990. Bathydraconidae. pp. 364-380 in Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown : J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 462 pp. [364-380]

Lautrédou, A.-C., Hinsinger, D.D., Gallut, C., Cheng, C.-H.C., Berkani, M., Ozouf-Costaz, C., Cruaud, C., Lecointre, G. & Dettai, A. 2012. Phylogenetic footprints of an Antarctic radiation: The Trematominae (Notothenioidei, Teleostei). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 65: 87-101

Near, T.J., Dornburg, A., Kühn, K.L., Eastman, J.T., Pennington, J.N., Patarnello, T., Zane, L., Fernández, D.A. & Jones, C.D. 2012. Ancient climate change, antifreeze, and the evolutionary diversification of Antarctic fishes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109(9): 3434-3439

Near, T.J., Pesavento, J.J. & Cheng, C-H.C. 2004. Phylogenetic investigations of Antarctic notothenioid fishes (Perciformes: Notothenioidei) using complete gene sequences of the mitochondrial encoded 16S rRNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32: 881-891

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