WFB 232 Ichthyology
Chelsea Mitchell
Ateleopodiformes (Greek ateles-, ‘imperfect’; Greek pous-,’foot’)
Taxonomy:
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Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Actinopterygii (bony fishes)
o Group: Teleostei
 Order Ateleopodiformes
 Family Ateleopodidae (jellynose fishes)
o 4 Genera: Ateleopus, Ijimaia, Parateleopus, and
Guentherus.
o 12 species
Description: Fish in this order are relatively rare. Though they are in the group, Teleotei,
their skeletons are mostly cartilaginous. Some cranial bones are missing in these fish, and
their teeth are poorly developed. Their heads have a bulbous shape, and their head and
body trunk are equivalent to approximately half their tail length. Their caudal and anal fins
are fused. They have a modified pelvic fin with a single ray that looks like a thread. Young
fish may have pelvic fins made up of multiple rays. The dorsal fin has 3-13 rays.
Habitat: Deep water (183-550m) in warm or tropical oceans.
Distribution: Tropical and warm oceans including the East Atlantic, East and Indo-West
Pacific, and the Caribbean Sea.
Ecology and life history:
Adults are nonguarders of eggs and young.
Additional details:
Some taxonomic relationships of ateleopodiformes are unresolved. Based on skeletal and
cartilaginous information, this order exists in an, “unresolved trichotomy” with the
eurypterigians and stomiiforms (Olney et al. 1993).
References used:
Barton, M. 2007. Bond’s Biology of Fishes, 3rd ed. Thompson Brooks/Cole, California.
Bond, C. E. 1996. Biology of Fishes, 2nd ed. Saunders College Publishing, Fort Worth.
www.fishbase.org
Nelson, J. S. 1994. Fishes of the World. 3rd. ed. Wiley and Sons, New York.
Olney, J.E., G.D. Johnson, and C.C. Baldwin. 1993. Phylogeny of lampridiform fishes. Bulletin
of Marine Science 52:137-169.
Paxton, J. R. and W. N. Eschmeyer. 1998. Encyclopedia of fishes 2nd ed. Academic Press.
Scott, W. B. and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Can.
184-966.