The Gempylidae are a family of scombriform ray-finned fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species.

Gempylidae
Snake Mackerel, Gempylus serpens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scombriformes
Suborder: Scombroidei
Family: Gempylidae
T. N. Gill, 1862
Genera[1]

They are elongated fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or finlets trailing it. The largest species, including the snoek (Thyrsites atun), grow up to 2 m long, and the oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus) can reach 3 m, though they rarely surpass 150 cm. Like the barracudas, they are predators, with fang-like teeth.[2]

Taxonomy

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The Gempylidae are broadly categorized into two clades; Clade 1, which includes more derived & elongate genera, and Clade 2, which includes more basal & fusiform genera. The Trichiuridae are an outgroup.[3]

Scombroidei

Gempylidae are believed to have first evolved at least 20 million years after the Late Cretaceus Extinction event, potentially due to tectonic plate movements.[3]

Timeline

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QuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneParadiplospinusDiplospinusNealotusPromethichthysThyrsitesRexea nakamuraiRexea prometheoidesRexea antefurcataRexea solandriThyrsitoidesGempylusNesiarchusEothyrsitesNeoepinnulaEpinnulaRuvettusLepidocybiumQuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleocene

[3][4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Gempylidae". FishBase. April 2013 version.
  2. ^ Johnson, G.D.; Gill, A.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
  3. ^ a b c Mthethwa, Siphesihle; Bester-van_der_Merwe, Aletta E.; Roodt-Wilding, Rouvay (June 2023). "Addressing the complex phylogenetic relationship of the Gempylidae fishes using mitogenome data". Ecology and Evolution. 13 (6): e10217. Bibcode:2023EcoEv..1310217M. doi:10.1002/ece3.10217. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 10283032. PMID 37351481.
  4. ^ Rust, Seabourne; Robinson, Jeffrey H. (2023-07-12). "Revisiting Eothyrsites holosquamatus Chapman (Trichiuroidea: Gempylidae), an Eocene gemfish from the Burnside Mudstone, Dunedin, New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 54 (5): 584–601. doi:10.1080/03036758.2023.2228211. ISSN 0303-6758. PMC 11459795.
  5. ^ Danilʹchenko, P. G. (1967). Bony fishes of the Maikop deposits of the Caucasus.
  6. ^ Bannikov, Alexandre F. (2008). "A new genus and species of putative euzaphlegid fish from the Eocene of Bolca in northern Italy (Periformes, Trichiuroidea)." Studi e Ricerche sui giacimenti Terziari di Bolca, XII Miscellanea Paleontologica 9: 99–107. [1]
  7. ^ David, Lore Rose (January 10, 1943). Miocene Fishes of Southern California. Geological Society of America. pp. 104–115.
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