''Spiniphryne'', also called spiny dreamers, is a genus of dreamers. Like other deep-sea anglerfish, ''Spiniphryne'' lure prey to them by means of a modified first dorsal fin ray with a bioluminescent bulb at the tip. ''Spiniphryne'' is unique amongst the oneirodids for being covered in tiny spines.

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Spiniphryne duhameli'' Pietsch & Z. H. Baldwin, 2006 * '' Spiniphryne gladisfenae'' ( Beebe, 1932) (Prickly dreamer)

Taxonomy

The type species, ''S. gladisfenae'', was originally described by

William Beebe Charles William Beebe ( ; July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author. He is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological ...

in 1932 under the oneirodid genus '' Dolopichthys''. Six months later that year, Regan and Trewavas revised the species into a new genus, '' Centrophryne'', along with the newly described species '' Centrophryne spinulosa''. In 1951, Bertelsen moved ''C. spinulosa'' into its own family,

Centrophrynidae The horned lantern fish or prickly seadevil (''Centrophryne spinulosa'') is a deep-sea anglerfish found worldwide. It is the monotypic, sole species in the family Centrophrynidae, distinguished from other deep-sea anglerfishes by various characte ...

, but retained "''Centrophryne gladisfenae''" in the Oneirodidae under a new genus, ''Spiniphryne''. This classification was later upheld by Bertelsen and Pietsch in 1975, who determined that the resemblance between ''Spiniphryne'' and ''Centrophryne'' is superficial.

Distribution and habitat

The type specimen of ''S. gladisfenae'' was collected off

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. ''S. gladisfenae'' has been collected from the eastern and western north

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, the western

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, and the western

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, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

ranging from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. ''S. duhameli'' has only been collected from the central and eastern north

, at a maximum depth of 2500 meters.

Description

Metamorphosed Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

female ''Spiniphryne'' have elongate and slender bodies rather than globulose. The body is entirely black except for the appendages at the tip of the esca, which are dark red to bright orange due to

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

. The subdermal coloration consists of large, subdermal

melanophore Chromatophores are cells that produce color, of which many types are pigment-containing cells, or groups of cells, found in a wide range of animals including amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans and cephalopods. Mammals and birds, in cont ...

s most densely grouped along the back. The fin bases and caudal peduncle are unpigmented. The mouth is moderately large, filled with slender, recurved teeth of large and small sizes. The first two or three teeth of the

premaxilla The premaxilla (or praemaxilla) is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has b ...

are immobile, while the rest can be depressed. They have well-developed sphenotic spines (above the eyes) and a symphysial spine (at the tip of the jaw where the two halves meet). The illicium ("fishing rod") is relatively short. ''Spiniphryne'' is distinguished from all other oneirodids by tiny, close-set dermal spinules that entirely cover the body and fins. Males and larvae have yet to be encountered. The two species of ''Spiniphryne'' are distinguished from each other by details of the esca ("lure").

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2780852 Oneirodidae Marine fish genera