''Gerlachea'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 ...

belonging to the

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 ...

Bathydraconidae The Bathydraconidae, or the Antarctic dragonfishes, 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 Antarct ...

, the Antarctic dragonfishes, its only species is ''Gerlachea australis''. It is found at depths of from over the Antarctic continental shelf. This species is the only known member of its

Taxonomy

''Gerlachea'' was first described as a genus in 1900 by the Belgian

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Louis Dollo Louis Antoine Marie Joseph Dollo (Lille, 7 December 1857 – Brussels, 19 April 1931) was a Belgian palaeontologist, known for his work on dinosaurs. He also posited that evolution is not reversible, known as Dollo's law. Together with the Austria ...

when he was describing the only species in this

genus ''Gerlachea australis'', the type of which had been collected by the

Belgian Antarctic Expedition The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region. Led by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery aboard the RV ''Belgica'', it was the first Belgian Antarctic expedition and is considered the firs ...

at a depth of 500 fathoms at 71°34'S, 89°10'W off Antarctica. The genus name honours the leader of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition,

Adrien de Gerlache Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery (; 2 August 1866 – 4 December 1934) was a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99. Early years Born in Hasselt in eastern Belgium as th ...

while the specific name ''australis'' means "southern" commemorating that expedition.

Description

''Gerlachea australis'' has its body and cheeks covered in

cycloid In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another cu ...

scales and there are no spines or hooks on the naked operculum. There are bans of small conical teeth in the jaws. The snout is long and flattened and the mouth extends back as far as the rear pore in the interorbital space. There are two lateral lines made up of tubular scales, an upper whhicj is located near the base of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

and a lower which is near the base of the anal fin, there is no middle lateral line. The dorsal fin as 44-48 soft rays and the anal fin has 34-36 soft rays. This species grows to a

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of . In alcohol the body is brown with 4-5 darker brown bars which vary in length and width. The operculum and the lower part of the head are light brown, There is a large dark spot at the base of the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

. The dorsal fin is black at the front bit this narrows to a stripe along the base towards the tail. The anal fin has black tips to its forward rays bit is otherwise light in colour. The caudal and pelvic fins are dark, while the pectoral fin is blackish. There is a dark oblique stripe across the cheek and the tip if the jaws are black.

Distribution and habitat

''Grelachea australis'' is found in the Southern Ocean where it has been recorded at the Antarctic Peninsula,

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

and the Antarctic continental shelf. It is a bathydemersal species found at depths between .

Biology

''Gerlachea australis'' breed when they attain a length greater than in the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha ...

Spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

takes place in the autumn and early winter with the eggs likely to hatch in the following spring. They have a long larval phase. As adults they are predators of

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

such as ''

Euphausia superba Antarctic krill (''Euphausia superba'') is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. It is a small, swimming crustacean that lives in large schools, called swarms, sometimes reaching densities of 10,000–30,000 ind ...

'', '' Hyperiella antarctica'' and '' Euphausia crystallorophias'', as well as other

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far describ ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5018422 Bathydraconidae Monotypic fish genera Fish of Antarctica Fish described in 1900