''Macroramphosus'', snipefishes or bellowfishes, is a genus of

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

es found in tropical and subtropical oceans at depths down to . According to

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, they are part of the family

Centriscidae The Centriscidae are a family of fishes from the order Syngnathiformes which includes the snipefishes, shrimpfishes, and bellowfishes. A small family, consisting of only about a dozen marine species, they are of an unusual appearance, as refle ...

, but Nelson (2016) split that family, in which case the genus ''Macroramphosus'' is in the family Macroramphosidae. They have long second spines on their

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 ...

s and tiny mouths at the tip of their greatly elongated snouts. The bodies of snipefish are more streamlined than in the related bellowfishes. They reach a maximum length of about , and are silvery or reddish in colour. They are sometimes found in large

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

. This is the only genus on the

monogeneric In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family Macroranphosidae but some authorities include the genera '' Centriscops'' and ''

Notopogon The bellowfishes or bellowsfishes are fishes in the genus ''Notopogon'' in the family Centriscidae. They are found in deeper parts of the temperate southern oceans, although the longspine bellowfish has been recorded as far north as New Caledoni ...

'' in this family too.

Species

Currently, two recognized species are placed in this genus: * ''

Macroramphosus gracilis ''Macroramphosus'', snipefishes or bellowfishes, is a genus of fishes found in tropical and subtropical oceans at depths down to . According to FishBase, they are part of the family Centriscidae, but Nelson (2016) split that family, in which case ...

'' ( R. T. Lowe, 1839) (slender snipefish) * ''

Macroramphosus scolopax ''Macroramphosus'', snipefishes or bellowfishes, is a genus of fishes found in tropical and subtropical oceans at depths down to . According to FishBase, they are part of the family Centriscidae, but Nelson (2016) split that family, in which cas ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758) (longspine snipefish)

References

Centriscidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède {{Syngnathiformes-stub