Bathysauropsis

Bathysauropsis gracilis

Bathysauropsis ( Gr. " Bathys " = deep; " saurodes " = lizard; " opsis " = appearance) is a genus of small to medium-sized deep-sea fish. The genus contains only two species and is the only one of Bathysauropsidae family. Bathysauropsis species live in circumglobal in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere and in the seas around Indonesia at depths 800-2800 m.

Features

Bathysauropsis are small to medium sized fish, reaching a maximum length of 45 cm. Her body is slender and nearly cylindrical in cross section, almost round and flattened slightly laterally only in the posterior section. The eyes are large and sit dorsolateral. The pupils are elliptical. The mouth is large, the foot column reaches up behind his eyes. The lower jaw is facing. The jaw and palate teeth are needle-like and small. The tongue is toothless. All fins are without spines. The only short dorsal fin is in the front half of the body just above the pelvic fins. The anal fin is further back, the tail fin is split and is supported by 19 main jets. A small adipose fin is present. The scales are cycloid and fall off easily. Light organs missing.

System

Bathysauropsis 1911 was described by the British ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan and placed in the family of compound eyes fish ( Ipnopidae ). In 2002, the monotypic family Bathysauropsidae was erected for the genus.

Species

There are only two types:

• Bathysauropsis gracilis ( Gunther, 1878)
• Bathysauropsis malayanus ( Fowler, 1938)