Neocyematidae is a

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

of fishes in the order

Saccopharyngiforms The saccopharyngiformes are a derived lineage of unusual eels within the order Anguilliformes, and includes families Cyematidae, Monognathidae, Eurypharyngidae, Saccopharyngidae, and the proposed family Neocyematidae. Most of the fish in this gro ...

. This family, established from five described adult specimens of the species ''

Neocyema erythrosoma ''Neocyema erythrosoma'' is a species of Pelagic zone, pelagic fish, a deep-water bobtail snipe eel in the family Cyematidae. It is the only member of its genus, ''Neocyema''. It was Species description, first described by Peter Castle in 1978 ...

'', was originally thought to be a part of the family Cyematidae, until

genomic sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. The ...

in 2018 refuted this relationship.

Description

''Neocyema'' is known for its vivid orange color and paedomorphic life cycle. One distinguishing feature of this group are the semi-extended jaws, which separate it from Cyematidae. The eyes of the adult form are reduced during the transition from larvae to adulthood, indicating a likelihood of blindness. The larval stage displays no black colorings, in contrast to the larval stages of other saccopharyngiformes, and look similar to the orders of ''Eupharynx'' and ''Saccopharynx'', whereas the adult stage more resembles ''Cyema''.

Distribution

''Neocyema erythrosoma'' has currently only been observed in the North and South Atlantic Ocean, but its larvae have been discovered in the Sargasso Sea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q96395210 Eels Deep sea fish Ray-finned fish families