The poachers are 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 ...

(Agonidae) of small, bottom-dwelling, cold-water marine

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

. They are also known as Irish lords, sea ravens, alligatorfishes, starsnouts, hooknoses, and rockheads. Poachers are notable for having elongated bodies covered by scales modified into bony plates, and for using their large

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 ...

s to move in short bursts. The family includes about 59 species in some 25 genera, some of which are quite widespread. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are nearly vestigial, typically consisting of one small spine and a few rays. The

swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled Organ (anatomy), organ that contributes to the ability of many bony fish (but not cartilaginous fish) to control their buoyancy, and thus to stay at their curren ...

is not present. At in length, the

dragon poacher The dragon poacher (''Percis japonica'') is a fish in the family Agonidae.''Percis japonica''

(''Percis japonica'') is the largest member of the family, while ''

Bothragonus occidentalis ''Bothragonus occidentalis'' is a fish in the family Agonidae.''Bothragonus oc ...

'' is long as an adult; most are in the 20–30 cm range. Poachers generally feed on small

crustacean 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 group ...

s and

marine worm Any worm that lives in a marine environment is considered a marine worm. Marine worms are found in several different phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida (segmented worms), Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, and Phoronida. For a ...

s found on the bottom. Some species

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

themselves with

hydras ''Hydra'' ( ) is a genus of small, freshwater organisms of the phylum Cnidaria and class Hydrozoa. They are native to the temperate and tropical regions. The genus was named by Linnaeus in 1758 after the Hydra, which was the many-headed b ...

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

s, or

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

. They live at deep, with only a few species preferring shallower, coastal waters. All but one species are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere.

Taxonomy

The family Agonidae was first proposed as a family in 1839 by the English naturalist

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

. The Agonidae is classified within the

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

Cottoidea A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand a ...

in the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Cottoidei Cottoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes which, according to the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'', is placed within the order Scorpaeniformes, alongside the scorpionfishes, flatheads, eelpouts,sticklebacks and related fishes. Taxonom ...

in the order

Scorpaeniformes The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of species, with over 1,320. They are ...

in 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 ...

'' but other authorities states that if Scorpaeniformes is excluded from

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 ...

then Perciformes is recovered as

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

and so classify this family within the

infraorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Cottales within the suborder Cottoidei of the Perciformes. A number of taxa which were previously classified within the

Cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

were reclassified within the Agonidae which meant that the Cottidae was confined to the freshwater sculpins.

Subfamilies and genera

The Agonidae is divided into the following subfamiles and genera: *

Hemilepidontinae ''Hemilepidotus'', the Irish lords, is a genus of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Agonidae, the poachers and sea ravens. These fishes are found in northern Pacific, northern Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. Species There are currently s ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

& Evermann, 1898 ** ''

Hemilepidotus ''Hemilepidotus'', the Irish lords, is a genus of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Agonidae, the poachers and sea ravens. These fishes are found in northern Pacific, northern Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. Species There are currently s ...

'' Cuvier, 1829 *

Hemitripterinae The Hemitripterinae is a subfamily of the scorpaeniform family Agonidae, known as sea ravens or sailfin sculpins. They are bottom-dwelling fish that feed on small invertebrates, found in the northwest Atlantic and north Pacific Oceans. They are c ...

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

, 1856 ** '' Blepsias'' Cuvier, 1829 ** '' Hemitripterus'' Cuvier, 1829 ** ''

Nautichthys ''Nautichthys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes, sculpins, belonging to the subfamily Hemitripterinae which is part of the family Agonidae. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest a ...

'' Girard, 1858 * Bothragoninae

Lindberg Lindberg is a municipality in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany in the immediate neighbourhood of the larger town Zwiesel. Location Lindberg lies in the Danube Forest (''Donau-Wald'') region in the middle of the Bavarian Forest on ...

, 1971 ** '' Bothragonus'' Gill, 1883 *

Hypsagoninae Hypsagoninae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes 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 purpo ...

Gill, 1861 ** '' Agonomalus'' Guichenot, 1866 ** ''

Hypsagonus ''Hypsagonus'' is a genus of poachers native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Hypsagonus corniger'' Taranetz, 1933 * '' Hypsagonus quadricornis'' (Valenciennes Valencienne ...

'' Gill, 1861 ** ''

Percis ''Percis'' is a genus of poachers native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Percis japonica'' (Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a gr ...

Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Au ...

, 1777 * Anoplagoninae Gill, 1861 ** '' Anoplagonus'' Gill, 1861 ** '' Aspidophoroides'' Lacépède, 1801 * Brachyopsinae Jordan & Evermann, 1898 ** '' Brachyopsis'' Gill, 1861 ** ''

Chesnonia ''Chesnonia'' is a monospecific genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Brachyopsinae in the Family (biology), family Agonidae. Its only species is ''Chesnonia verrucosa'', the warty poacher, which is found in the northeastern Pacific ...

'' Iredale & Whitley, 1969 ** ''

Occella ''Occella'' is a genus of Agonidae, poachers native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * ''Occella dodecaedron'' (Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau, Tilesius, 1813) (Bering poach ...

'' Jordan & Hubbs, 1925 ** '' Pallasina''

Cramer Cramer may refer to: Businesses * Cramer brothers, 18th century publishers * Cramer Systems, a software company * Cramer & Co., a former musical-related business in London Other uses * Cramer (surname), including a list of people and fictional ...

, 1895 ** ''

Stellerina The pricklebreast poacher (''Stellerina xyosterna'')is a species of poacher native to the eastern Pacific Ocean from Canada to northern Mexico. This species can be found on sandy or muddy bottoms at depths of from . This species grows to a leng ...

'' Cramer, 1896 ** '' Tilesina''

Schmidt Schmidt may refer to: * Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname * Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer * Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater * Schmidt (Martian crater), a List of craters on ...

, 1904 * Agoninae Swainson, 1839 ** '' Agonopsis'' Gill, 1861 ** ''

Agonus ''Agonus'' is a monospecific genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Agoninae in the family Agonidae. Its only species is ''Agonus cataphractus'', commonly known as the hooknose, pogge or armed bullhead. This is a demersal fish found ...

Bloch Bloch is a surname of German origin. Notable people with this surname include: A–F * (1859-1914), French rabbi *Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881-1925), Austrian entrepreneur *Albert Bloch (1882–1961), American painter * (born 1972), German motor journal ...

& Schneider, 1801 ** '' Freemanichthys'' Kanayama, 1991 ** '' Leptagonus'' Gill, 1861 ** ''

Podothecus ''Podothecus'' is a genus of poachers native to the northern Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depe ...

'' Gill, 1861 ** '' Sarritor'' Cramer, 1896 *

Bathyagoninae Bathyagoninae is a subfamily of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Agonidae, part of the sculpin A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2 ...

, 1971 ** '' Bathyagonus''

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

, 1890 ** ''

Odontopyxis The pygmy poacher (''Odontopyxis trispinosa'') is a species of poacher that is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean along the North American coast from southern Alaska to northern Mexico. This species occurs at depths of from . This species grow ...

'' Lockington, 1880 ** '' Xeneretmus'' Gilbert, 1903

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1030003 Cottoidea