''Patagonotothen'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
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 hor ...
es, belonging to the
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 ...
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. They are native to the southeast Pacific Ocean, southern Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Ocean.
[
]
Taxonomy
''Patagonotothen'' was first formally described in 1976 by the Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
ichthyologist
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 Octobe ...
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 ...
with ''Notothenia tessellata'', which had been described in 1845 by the Scottish naturalist, Arctic explorer and naval surgeon
A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail.
Ancient uses
Speciali ...
John Richardson with a type locality of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
, as the 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 specimen ...
. Some authorities place this genus in the subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
Nototheniinae, but the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World
''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...
'' does not include subfamilies in the Nototheniidae. The genus name is a compound of ''Patago'', a reference to Patagonia, and ''notothen'', indicating that this genus is part of the family Nototheniidae.
Species
The 15 recognized species in this genus are:
* '' Patagonotothen brevicauda'' (Lönnberg, 1905) (Patagonian rockcod)
* '' Patagonotothen canina'' ( Smitt, 1897)
* '' Patagonotothen cornucola'' ( J. Richardson, 1844)
* '' Patagonotothen elegans'' ( Günther, 1880)
* ''Patagonotothen guntheri
''Patagonotothen guntheri'', the yellowfin notothen, is a species of notothen found in the Argentinian region of Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, the Burdwood Bank and the Shag Rocks (where it is found in abundance) west of South Georgia on the ...
'' (Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
, 1937) (yellowfin notothen)
* '' Patagonotothen jordani'' ( W. F. Thompson, 1916)
* '' Patagonotothen kreffti'' (Balushkin & Stehmann, 1993)
* '' Patagonotothen longipes'' ( Steindachner, 1876)
* '' Patagonotothen ramsayi'' (Regan
The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...
, 1913) (longtail southern cod)
* '' Patagonotothen shagensis'' Balushkin & Permitin, 1982
* '' Patagonotothen sima'' (J. Richardson, 1845)
* '' Patagonotothen squamiceps'' ( W. K. H. Peters, 1877)
* '' Patagonotothen tessellata'' (J. Richardson, 1845) (black southern cod)
* '' Patagonotothen thompsoni'' (Balushkin, 1993)
* '' Patagonotothen wiltoni'' (Regan, 1913)
Characteristics
''Patagonotothen'' fishes are small to medium sized notothens which have small to moderately sized heads. The scales on the head vary in extent from almost totally unscaled to having scales over the crown, cheeks and gill covers. The skin on the head is smooth. Typically they have two 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 ...
s, although some species may have a third lower lateral line, and these are usually made up of tubed scales.[ The maximum ]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 ...
varies from in ''P. cornucola'' to in ''P. ramsayi''.[
]
Distribution, habitat and biology
Patagonotothen species are found in the waters off southern South America off Chile and Argentina as well as the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.[ They are demersal or benthopelagic fishes which feed mainly on zooplankton such as krill.][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2491880
Nototheniidae
Marine fish genera
Perciformes genera