The Bathydraconidae, or the Antarctic dragonfishes, are a family of marine , notothenioids belonging to the Perciform suborder Notothenioidei. The family comprises four genera. These fishes are endemic to deep waters off Antarctica.
Taxonomy
Bathydraconidae was first formally described as a family in 1913 by the English people ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan in his report on the fishes collected on the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition to the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[ He used the genus Bathydraco, which had been described by Albert Gunther in 1878 as a Monotypy genus with B. antarctica as its type species, as the type genus.]
Genera
The following genera are classified within the family Bathydraconidae:
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Acanthodraco Skóra, 1995
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Akarotaxis DeWitt & Hureau, 1980
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Bathydraco Günther, 1878
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Cygnodraco Waite, 1916
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Gerlachea Louis Dollo, 1900
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Gymnodraco Boulenger, 1902
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Parachaenichthys Boulenger, 1902
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Prionodraco Regan, 1914
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Psilodraco Norman. 1937
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Racovitzia Dollo, 1900
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Vomeridens DeWitt & Hureau, 1980
Characteristics
Bathydraconidae species have elongate, slender bodies and may be separated from the other notothenioid families by the lack of a spiny first dorsal fin. Their bodies may be stocky, nearly cylindrical or rather depressed at the front and compressed at the rear. There is a single dorsal fin which has a long base and lacks any spines. The anal fin is typically shorter based than the dorsal fin, again having no spines. The are well developed while the contain 1 spine and 5 branched fin rays, beginning to the front of the pectoral fins. The head is moderate to large in size, being depressed in some species. They have a long snout which is flattened or even slightly depressed and is typically short and pointed. They have large mouths which can extend as far as the level of the middle of the eye. The jaws normally have small, conical teeth and occasionally canines, there are usually no teeth elsewhere in the mouth. They have a single external nostril. The operculum may have a rearwards directed hooked or spine, it may be unarmed. The bodies may have scales, typically ctenoid, bony plates or be naked. They can have 1, 2, 3 or 5 made up of tubular, pored or pitted scales, and these are occasionally interlinked.
Distribution, habitat and biology
Bathydraconidae species are benthopelagic fishes found in Antarctic waters. They are not fished commercially and little is known about them.[
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