Marine hatchetfish
Marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes are small deep-sea mesopelagic ray-finned fish of the stomiiform subfamily Sternoptychinae. They should not be confused with the freshwater hatchetfishes, which are not particularly closely related Teleostei in the characiform family Gasteropelecidae.
| Marine hatchetfishes Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Half-naked hatchetfish, Argyropelecus hemigymnus eating a shrimp | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Stomiiformes |
| Family: | Sternoptychidae |
| Subfamily: | Sternoptychinae |
| Diversity | |
| 3 genera, some 40 species | |
The scientific name means "Sternoptyx-subfamily", from Sternoptyx (the type genus) + the standard animal family suffix "-inae". It ultimately derives from Ancient Greek stérnon (στέρνον, "breast") + ptýx (πτύξ, "a fold/crease") + Latin forma ("external form"), the Greek part in reference to the thorax shape of marine hatchetfishes.
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