Family Trachipteridae
Taxonomy: Small family with 3 genera and at least 10 species; all genera nad 3 species in Australian waters.
Distribution, ecology and habitat: cosmopolitan in all oceans; meso- to bathypelagic
Characteristics:
Body elongate, compressed, tapering from large head to very narrow caudal peduncle, eye large; mouth highly protrusible, teeth present. Dorsal fin very long, originating well behind tip of snout, highest anteriorly,extending nearly full length of body; anal fin generally absent; pelvic fins elongate in juveniles, reduced or absent in adults; caudal fin long, upper lobe only prsent in most species and oriented perpendicular to body, lower lobe absent. Scales cycloid or modified ctenoid, deciduous; skin of adults covered with small, bony tubercles, juveniles with posteriorly directed spinules along lateral line, scattered over caudal peduncle and on caudal rays. Swim bladder rudimentary, if present.
Size: Reach about 2.1 m.
Food and feeding: Feed on other fishes, squid and crustaceans.
Reproduction and early life history: Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae. All species undergo considerable allometric growth and remarkable ontogenetic changes between larval and adult stages. Eggs 1.8-3.2. mm, spherical, pelagic and often pale orange or reddish in colour. Larvae at all growth stages are highly pigmented. At hatching, larvae have well-developed, protrusible jaws, pigmented eyes and functional differentiated guts. An elaborate, long anterior dorsal filament develops behind the head, ornamented at intervals with pigmented swellings. Pelvic fin elements well-developed and ornamented.
Fisheries: Very occasionally caught as bycatch in commercial fisheries.
Remarks: Swim in an eel-like fashion by undulating the dorsal fin.
Australian species:
- Desmodema polystictum (Ogilby, 1898) Spotted Ribbonfish CAAB 37271002
- Trachipterus jacksonensis (Ramsay, 1881) Southern Ribbonfish CAAB 37271001
- Zu cristatus (Bonelli, 1820) Scalloped Ribbonfish CAAB 37271003
References:
Charter, S.R. & H.G. Moser. 1996. Lampridiformes, Lophotidae, Radiicephalidae, Trachipteridae. In The early stages of fishes in the California current region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Atlas No. 33, pp. 659-677.
Heemstra, P.C. & S.X. Kannemeyer. 1984. The families Trachipteridae and Radiicephalidae (Pisces, Lampriformes) and a new species of Zu from South Africa. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 94: 13-39.
Moser, H.G. (ed.) 1996. The Early Stages of Fishes in the California Current Region. CalCOFI Atlas No. 33 Ed. Allen Press Inc, Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 pp.
Okiyama, M (ed.) 1988. An Atlas of the Early Stage Fishes in Japan. Tokai University Press, Tokyo. 1154 pp. [in Japanese]
Olney, J.E. 1984. Lampridiformes: development and relationships. Pp. 368-379, In Moser, H.G., W.J. Richards, D.M. Cohen, M.P. Fahay, A.W. Kendall, Jr. & S.L. Richardson (eds). Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. Spec. Publ. No. 1, Amer. Soc. Ichthy. Herpet., ix + 760 pp.
Olney, J.E. 1999. Trachipteridae: Ribbonfishes (dealfishes), In Carpenter, K.E. & V.H. Niem. Species identification guide for fisheries purposes. The living marine resources of the western central Pacific. Batoid fishes, chimeras and bony fishes. Part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). FAO, Rome.
Olney, J.E., G.D. Johnson & C.C. Baldwin. 1993. Phylogeny of lampridiform fishes. Bull. Mar. Sci. 52:137-169.
Olney, J.E. & A. Naplin. 1980. Eggs of the Scalloped Ribbonfish, Zu cristatus, (Pisces: Trachipteridae) in the Western North Atlantic. Copeia 1980(1): 165-166.