Bovichtidae, the temperate icefishes or thornfishes, is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

es, classified in the suborder

Notothenioidei Notothenioidei is one of 19 suborders of the order Perciformes. The group is found mainly in Antarctic and Subantarctic waters, with some species ranging north to southern Australia and southern South America. Notothenioids constitute approx ...

of the order

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...

. They are native to coastal waters off Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

Systematics

Bovichtidae was first formally described as a family in 1861 by the American ichthyologist

Theodore Nicholas Gill Theodore Nicholas Gill (March 21, 1837 – September 25, 1914) was an American ichthyologist, mammalogist, malacologist and librarian. Career Born and educated in New York City under private tutors, Gill early showed interest in natural histo ...

. The family name was spelled Bovichthyidae in the 4th edition of J. S. Nelson's '' Fishes of the World'' but has been reverted to Bovichtidae in the 5th edition. Phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters has revealed that the family Bovichtidae may not be a monophyletic group. Bovichtidae is one of two families of the suborder

with a primarily non-Antarctic distribution, the other being

Pseudaphritidae The congoli (''Pseudaphritis urvillii''), also known as the freshwater flathead, marble fish, marbled flathead, sand trout, sanding, sandy, sandy whiting or tupong. is a species of marine ray-finned fish and it is the only species of fish in t ...

. The name of the family is taken from its

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

, ''Bovichtus'' which is derived from bovus meaning “bull” and ''ichthys'' which means fish, based on the local name for ''Bovichtus'' species in Valparaiso, Chile, ''torrito'', the “little bull”. The Bovichtidae is the

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

family to the Pseudaphritidae which in turn is sister to the

Eleginopidae The Patagonian blennie (''Eleginops maclovinus''), also known as the rock cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the monotypic family Eleginopidae and monotypic genus ''Eleginops''. It is found in coastal and estuarine habitat ...

and these are all sister to the rest of the families in the Notothenoidei which have been placed in the suggested superfamily Cryonotothenioidea. The Bovichtidae are regarded as the most basal family in the suborder.

Genera

Currently, three genera are included in this family, with the

catadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

genus ''

Pseudaphritis The congoli (''Pseudaphritis urvillii''), also known as the freshwater flathead, marble fish, marbled flathead, sand trout, sanding, sandy, sandy whiting or tupong. is a species of marine ray-finned fish and it is the only species of fish in t ...

'' ( Castelnau, 1872) now being placed in its own family, Pseudaphritidae. * ''

Bovichtus ''Bovichtus'' is a genus of fish in the family Bovichtidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Bovichtus'' was formally described as a genus in 1832 by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes with ''Callionymus diacanth ...

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

, 1832 * ''

Cottoperca ''Cottoperca'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Bovichtidae, the temperate icefishes or thornfishes. They are found in the southeastern Pacific, southwestern Atlantic and northern Southern Oceans off southern South A ...

'' Steindachner, 1875 * ''

Halaphritis The flathead congoli (''Halaphritis platcephala'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the family Bovichtidae, the thornfishes or temperate icefishes. It is native to the seas off southeastern Australia. This species is the onl ...

Last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...

, Balushkin & Hutchins, 2002

Characteristics

Bovichtidae icefishes are characterised by a protrusible a not very elongated or pronounced snout. The gill membranes not connected to the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

and they project quite far forward. There is a single lateral line. They have a long, compressed body with two dorsal fins, the front dorsal fin being spiny. There are no spines in the anal fin. There is a spine on the operculum which may be weak and flattened or robust, long and pointed. There is a single nostril on the snout. There are small conical teeth on the jaws,

vomer The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right max ...

and

palatine A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times.

. There is no swim bladder.

Distribution and habitat

Bovichtidae species are found in the southern hemisphere where they occur in marine waters off southern South America, southern Australia and New Zealand.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1313669 Taxa named by Theodore Gill