Family TRIACANTHODIDAE

Triacanthodidae

© Copyright Ros Poole.

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Introduction

Members of the Triacanthodidae, or spikefishes, occur in the western Atlantic and Indo-west-central Pacific. Currently, 11 genera and 22 species are known, with six genera and eight species recorded from Australia. Because they occur in depths not often sampled in Australia, it is likely that additional species will be found.

Spikefishes are benthic, found on the deeper parts of the continental shelf and continental slope in depths from 50 to over 1000 m. Most Australian specimens have been collected between 300 and 600 m. Maximum size reached is less than 25 cm.

Tyler (1968) revised the family and Matsuura (2001) presented a key that included Australian genera. Various studies have placed this family, along with the Triacanthidae, as the sister group to all other living Tetraodontiformes (see Winterbottom 1974; Lauder & Liem 1983; Leis 1984). However more recent works based on morphological and molecular studies have given a somewhat different and confused picture of relationships. Santini & Tyler (2003) placed this family as the sister group to all other tetraodontiforms, with the Triacanthidae grouped with the Balistidae, Monacanthidae, Ostraciidae and Aracanidae. Near et al. (2012) placed the family with the Triacanthidae and Molidae, but not as the sister group to other tetraodontiforms. Santini et al. (2013) placed the family with the Triacanthidae, Ostraciidae, Aracanidae and Triodontidae, again a basal group.

General References

Lauder, G.V. & Liem, K.F. 1983. The evolution and interrelationships of the actinopterygian fishes. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 150: 95-197

Leis, J.M. 1984. Tetradontiformes: Relationships. pp. 459-463 in Moser, H.G. et al. (eds). Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Special Publication 1: 1-760

Matsuura, K. 2001. Triacanthodidae, Triacanthidae, Balistidae. pp. 3902-3928 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.

Near, T.J., Eytan, R.I., Dornburg, A., Kühn, K.L., Moore, J.A., Davis, M.P., Wainwright, P.C., Friedman, M. & Smith, W.L 2012. Resolution of ray-finned fish phylogeny and timing of diversification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109: 13698-13703

Santini, F., Sorenson, L. & Alfaro, M.E. 2013. A new phylogeny of tetraodontiform fishes (Tetraodontiformes, Acanthomorpha) based on 22 loci. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69: 177–187

Santini, F. & Tyler, J.C. 2003. A phylogeny of the families of fossil and extant tetraodontiform fishes (Acanthomorpha, Tetraodontiformes), Upper Cretaceous to Recent. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 139: 565-617

Tyler, J.C. 1968. A monograph on plectognath fishes of the superfamily Triacanthoidea. Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 16: 1-364 figs 1-209

Winterbottom, R. 1974. The familial phylogeny of the Tetraodontiformes (Acanthopterygii : Pisces) as evidenced by their comparative myology. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 155: 1-102 figs 1-185

Common Name References

Matsuura, K. 2001. Triacanthodidae, Triacanthidae, Balistidae. pp. 3902-3928 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218. [3902] (Spikefishes)

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