''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family

Artedidraconidae The Artedidraconidae, barbeled plunderfishes, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes, notothenioids belonging to the Perciform suborder Notothenioidei. The family comprises four genera. These fishes are endemic to deep waters off Antarctica. ...

, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 by the Swedish zoologist Einar Lönnberg when he created the genus for ''Artedidraco mirus'', a new species of fish from

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

he was describing following the collection of its types by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition. As it was the only species in the enw genus it was the type species by monotypy. The generic name is a compound of Artedi, honouring the Swedish naturalist Peter Artedi who was known as the “father of

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octob ...

,” and who was born 200 years before Lönnberg described ''A. mirus'' with ''draco'', from ''dracœna'' meaning “dragon” an ancient Greek name for the weeverfish genus '' Trachinus'' , although this may be a reference to the relationship Lönnberg mentioned to ''

Draconetta The common slope dragonet (''Draconetta xenica'') is a species of slope dragonet native to the Indo-Pacific region where it can be found from Africa to the Hawaiian Islands. It is a benthic fish, occurring on sandy bottoms at the edges of the co ...

'' which was thought to be a member of the Nototheniidae at that time.

Species

There are currently 7 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Artedidraco glareobarbatus ''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Artedidraconidae, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 by the Swedish zo ...

Eastman Eastman may refer to: People * Eastman (surname) * Eastman Nixon Jacobs (1902–1987), American aerodynamicist * John Eastman (b 1960), American lawyer and founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence * Jonathan Eastman Johnso ...

& Eakin, 1999 * ''

Artedidraco longibarbatus ''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Artedidraconidae, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 by the Swedish zo ...

'' Eakin, Riginella & La Mesa, 2015 (Long-beard plunderfish) Eakin, R.R., Riginella, E. & La Mesa, M. (2015): A new species of ''Artedidraco'' (Pisces: Artedidraconidae) from the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. ''Polar Biology, 38 (10): 1597-1603.'' * ''

Artedidraco lonnbergi ''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Artedidraconidae, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 by the Swedish zo ...

'' Roule, 1913 * ''

Artedidraco mirus ''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Artedidraconidae, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 by the Swedish zo ...

'' Lönnberg, 1905 * ''

Artedidraco orianae ''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Artedidraconidae, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 by the Swedish zo ...

'' Regan, 1914 * ''

Artedidraco shackletoni ''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Artedidraconidae, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 ...

'' Waite, 1911 * ''

Artedidraco skottsbergi ''Artedidraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Artedidraconidae, the barbeled plunderfishes. They are native to the Southern Ocean. Taxonomy ''Artedidraco'' was first described as a genus in 1905 by the Swedish zo ...

'' Lönnberg, 1905

Characteristics

''Artedidraco'' is the type genus of the family Artedidraconidae and so has many of the features characteristic of that family. Within the Atredidraconidae this genus is separated from the others by the first dorsal fin being located above the pectoral fin base. Their heads have a width which is roughly the same as their depth and the post temporal ridges are weakly developed. The snout is shorter than the diameter of the eye and the space between the eyes is narrow. The mental barbel, the barbel on the chin which characterises the barbeled plunderfishes, is tapered or expanded towards its tip. They have small jaws which are equipped with small conical teeth arranged in a band of many series of teeth. The upper

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

has tubed scales at the head end and towards the caudal fin it normally has disc shaped scales, the middle lateral line consist of disc-shaped scales.. The maximum total length of these fishes varies from in ''A. lonnbergi'' to in ''A. orianae''.

Distribution, habitat and biology

''Artedidraco'' is found in the coastal waters of the Antarctic continent with one species, ''A. mirus'' occurring as far north as South Georgia. They are found in the nearshore sublittoral zone and on the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

and have been recorded as deep as . Their biology is little known but the species in this genus feed largely on polychaetes and small crustaceans.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2317420 Artedidraconidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Einar Lönnberg