Family NOTOTHENIIDAE

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Introduction

The Nototheniidae is the most speciose and diverse family of notothenioids, currently with about 11 genera and 55 species (Balushkin 2000; Eastman & Eakin 2000, 2015; Nelson 2006). Twenty-five species in 8 genera have been recorded in Australian territorial waters.

Nototheniids dominate the demersal fish fauna of the Antarctic continental shelf and also occur around the sub-Antarctic Islands, southern South America and New Zealand. They are mostly benthic, although some species have adaptive mechanisms that enable a pelagic lifestyle, and are found from the shore to depths of up to 1500m. They are carnivorous, feeding on macroinvertebrates, fishes and zooplankton (Dewitt et al. 1990; Eastman 2005).

The taxonomy of the group is complex and in a state of flux. In this work we largely follow the classification of Eastman and Eakin (2000, 2015) which differs from that of Balushkin (2000). Balushkin (1976, 1979, 2000) places several species of Lepidonotothen into the genera Nototheniops Balushkin 1976 (L. larseni) and Lindbergichthys Balushkin 1979 (L. mizops, L. nudifrons). DeWitt et al. (1990) believed the species were more closely related to each other than any other genera of the family and treated Nototheniops and Lindbergichthys as sub-genera of Lepidonotothen. Subsequent molecular studies over the last decade concur with the assessment of DeWitt et al. (1990) and do not support Balushkin's (2000) classification (see Dettai et al. (2012) and references therein).

In a revision of Trematomus Balushkin (1982) retained only T. newnesi in the genus and placed all other species in Pseudotrematomus Balushkin 1982. Dewitt et al. 1990 considered the placement reasonable but requiring further evidence, however more recent studies (e.g. Sanchez et al. 2007; Kuhn & Near 2009; Lautrédou et al. 2012) do not support the classification of Balushkin (1982, 2000). These studies have also demonstrated repeatedly that the species of Pagothenia (P. borchgrevinki, P. brachysoma) should be referred to the genus Trematomus, a classification we adopt here. Cryothenia has also been shown to be very similar to Trematomus and should possibly be assigned to that genus (Balushkin 2000; Kuhn & Near 2004; Lautrédou et al. 2012), however these species are not included here.

 

General References

Balushkin, A.V. 1976. A short revision of notothenids (Notothenia Richardson and related species) from the family Nototheniidae. pp. 118-134 in O. A.Skarlato & V. Korovina. Zoogeography and Systematics of Fish. Leningrad : Akad. Nauk USSR, Zool. Inst. pp.1-195. [In Russian]

Balushkin, A.V. 1979. Lindbergichthys (Nototheniidae) — a new generic name for Lindbergia Balushkin, 1976 non Riedel, 1959. Voprosy Ikhtiologii 19(5): 930-931 [In Russian. English translation in Journal of Ichthyology v. 19 (no. 5):144-145]

Balushkin, A.V. 1982. Classification of Antarctic Trematomine fishes. pp. 9-10 in Balushkin, A. V. Biology of the shelf zones of the world ocean. Vladivostok Vol. 2 pp. [9]

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

Dettai, A., Berkani, M., Lautredou, A.-C., Couloux, A., Lecointre, G., Ozouf-Costaz, C. & Gallut, C. 2012. Tracking the elusive monophyly of nototheniid fishes (Teleostei) with multiple mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Marine Genomics 8: 49-58

DeWitt, H.H., Heemstra, P.C. & Gon, O. 1990. Nototheniidae. pp. 279-332 in Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown : J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 462 pp.

Eastman, J.T. 2005. The nature of the diversity of Antarctic fishes. Polar Biology 28: 93-107

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

Eastman, J.T. & Eakin, R.R. 2015. Notothenioid classification and list of species. Ohio University - Faculty of Biomedical Science. http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/dbms-eastman/Articles/Noto-valid-spp-list15Jan2015.docx [published 15 Jan 2015; accessed on 12 June 2015]

Kühn, K.L. & Near, T.J. 2009. Phylogeny of Trematomus (Notothenioidei: Nototheniidae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. Antarctic Science 21(6): 565-570

Kühn, K.L. & Near, T.J. 2009. Phylogeny of Trematomus (Notothenioidei: Nototheniidae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. Antarctic Science 21(6): 565-570

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

Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 601 pp. [401]

Sanchez, S., Dettaï, A., Bonillo, C., Ozouf-Costaz, C., Detrich H.W. III & Lecointre, G. 2007. Molecular and morphological phylogenies of the Antarctic teleostean family Nototheniidae, with emphasis on the Trematominae. Polar Biology 30: 155-166

 

Common Name References

DeWitt, H.H., Heemstra, P.C. & Gon, O. 1990. Nototheniidae. pp. 279-332 in Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown : J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 462 pp. [279] (Notothens)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
	NOTOTHENIOIDEI	14-Jun-2012	ADDED	Dr Dianne Bray (NMV) Dr Doug Hoese (AM) Dr Matthew Lockett (AM)