The toad notie (''Lindbergichthys mizops''), or toad notothen, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

Nototheniidae : ''In some scientific literature, the term "cod icefish" is used to identify members of this family. This should not be confused with the term "icefish," which refers to the "white-blooded" fishes of the family Channichthyidae. See Icefish (disam ...

, the notothens or cod icefishes. It is native to the Indian sector of the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

Taxonomy

The toad notie was first formally described in 1880 as ''Notothenia mizops'' by the German-born British ichthyologist

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re ...

with the type locality given as Christmas harbor and Howes Foreland on

Kerguelen Island The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...

at a depth of 120 fathoms. The type was collected on the

Challenger Expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by Wi ...

. When the Russian ichthyologist

Arkady Vladimirovich Balushkin Arkady (russian: Арка́дий, Arkadiy) is a Slavic masculine given name, ultimately derived from the Greek name Αρκάδιος, meaning “from Arcadia”. The Latin equivalent is Arcadius. Notable people with the name include: People: *Ark ...

described the subgenus '' Lindbergichthys'' he designated ''N. mizops'' as its

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

. The specific name ''mizops'' means "large eyes" alluding to this fish having eyes the same size as the larger '' Lepidonotothen squamifrons''.

Description

The toad notie has an oblong body which is compressed towards the tail. It has dorsally positioned eyes which may bulge above the dorsal profile of the head, they eyes are separated by a narrow area which has a width less than the diameter of the eye. The pores in the sensory canal on the head are small. The mouth is small and does not extend to the middle of the eye and there are conical teeth in the jaws. The body is largely cover in

ctenoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as ...

scales with non-ctenoid scales present on cheeks, gills and on the top of head behind the eyes. The first

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 ...

contains 4-5 spines, it is completely separate from the second dorsal fin which has 34-37 soft rays while the anal fin has 33-35 rays. This species grows to a standard length of . There are two series of large, irregular blackish blotches along the body, these join at the midflank but not symmetrically creating a weak chequerboard pattern. There are tow diagonal dark stripes on the cheek, a blackish spot on first dorsal fin and vertical stripes on the second dorsal fin and the anal fin.

Distribution and habitat

The toad noties is found off island groups in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean. It has been recorded from Heard Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, the

Prince Edward Islands The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are part of South Africa. The islands are named Marion Island (named after Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, 1724–1772) and Prince Edward Island ...

and the Crozet Islands. It can be found at depths from .

Biology

The toad notie spawns from May to June and occasionally to July. The eggs have a diameter of greater than 1.65 mm.

Fisheries

It is of no interest to

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often p ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3762586, from2=Q17042955 Toad notie Fish described in 1880 Taxa named by Albert Günther