Phosichthyidae
| Lightfishes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ichthyococcus ovatus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Stomiiformes |
| Family: | Phosichthyidae |
| Genera | |
|
Ichthyococcus | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Photichthyidae | |
Lightfishes are small stomiiform fishes in the family Phosichthyidae[1][2]
They are very small fishes found in oceans throughout the world: most species grow no longer than 10 cm, while those in the genus Vinciguerria only reach 4 cm or so.
They make up for their small size with abundant numbers: Vinciguerria is thought — with the possible exception of Cyclothone — to be the most abundant genus of vertebrates. Deep-sea trawls of the Humboldt Current in the southeast Pacific have found that lightfishes make up 85% by mass of mesopelagic fishes, with Vinciguerria lucetia by far the most numerous species.[3]
They are bioluminescent fishes, possessing rows of photophores along their sides, with which they hunt planktonic invertebrates, especially krill.
References
- ↑ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Phosichthyidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
- ↑ "Phosichthyidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
- ↑ R. Cornejo, R. Koppelmann & T. Sutton. "Deep-sea fish diversity and ecology in the benthic boundary layer".