Family OREOSOMATIDAE

Oreosomatidae

© Copyright Ros Poole.

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Introduction

The Oreosomatidae include 10 species in five genera, with six described species in four genera known from Australian waters.

Oreosomatids are benthic over the deeper slopes, mostly in temperate waters of all oceans. Oreo dories usually have deep bodies, highly protrusible mouths and heavier scales than species in other zeiform families; juveniles have distinctive conical bony scutes on the body. The oreo dories are important commercially, and grow to a maximum size of at least 50 cm.

Myers (1960) presented a preliminary review of the family and Heemstra (1980) published a key to the species from the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Tyler et al. (2003) presented a phylogeny of zeiform fishes based mostly on osteological characters and redefined the family Oreosomatidae. Species from southern waters were reviewed by James et al. (1988) and Bray (1994, 2008), and Heemstra (1980) treated Southern Ocean species. Yearsley & Last (1998) described a new species of Neocyttus from Australasian waters and provided a key to species of the genus. Molecular studies on the group are provided by Ward et al. (1998).

General References

Bray, D.J. 1994. Families Zeidae, Oreosomatidae. pp. 416-427 figs 373-381 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

Bray, D.J. 2008. Famly Oreosomatidae. pp. 441-446 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.

Heemstra, P.C. 1980. A revision of the zeid fishes (Zeiformes : Zeidae) of South Africa. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute, Grahamstown 41: 1-18 figs 1-5 pls 1-2

James, G.D., Inada, T. & Nakamura, I. 1988. Revision of the oreosomatid fishes (family Oreosomatidae) from the southern oceans, with a description of a new species. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 15: 291-326

Myers, G.S. 1960. A new zeomorph fish of the family Oreosomatidae from the coast of California, with notes on the family. Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin 7(4): 89-98 fig. 1

Paxton, J.R., Bray, D.J., Gates, J.E. & Hoese, D.F 2006. Oreosomatidae. pp. 789-792 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.

Tyler, J.C., O'Toole, B. & Winterbottom, R.W. 2003. Phylogeny of the genera and families of zeiform fishes, with comments on their relationships with tetraodontiforms and caproids. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 618: 1-110

Ward, R.D., Elliott, N.G., Grewe, P.M., Last, P.R., Lowry, P.S., Innes, B.H. & Yearsley, G.K. 1998. Allozyme and mitochondrial DNA variation in three species of oreos (Teleostei: Oreosomatidae) from Australasian waters. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 32(2): 233-245

Yearsley, G.K. & Last, P.R. 1998. Neocyttus psilorhynchus, a new oreosomatid (Pisces, Zeiformes) from southern Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 32: 555-579 figs 1-7

Common Name References

Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds) 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs. [422] (Oreo-dories, Oreos)

Pollard, J. (ed.) 1980. G.P. Whitley's Handbook of Australian Fishes. North Sydney : Jack Pollard Publishing Pty Ltd 629 pp. [91] (Mountainsides)

Tyler, J.C., O'Toole, B. & Winterbottom, R.W. 2003. Phylogeny of the genera and families of zeiform fishes, with comments on their relationships with tetraodontiforms and caproids. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 618: 1-110 [35] (Warty Dories)

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