Alepocephalidae

Slickheads
Temporal range: Ypresian–present
California slickhead, Alepocephalus tenebrosus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Superorder: Alepocephali
Order: Alepocephaliformes
Family: Alepocephalidae
Bonaparte, 1846
Genera
Synonyms
  • Alepocephalini Bonaparte 1846
  • Leptochilichthyidae Marshall 1966
  • Bathyprionidae Marshall 1966
  • Bathypriidae Marshall 1966
  • Bathylaconidae Parr 1948
  • Aulastomatomorphinae Fowler 1934

Slickheads, also known as nakedheads or smoothheads, are deep water fishes that belong to the family Alepocephalidae. They are most commonly found in the bathypelagic layer, which is approximately 3000m below the surface.[1] They get their name from the lack of scales on their heads. Similarly, the scientific name is from the Greek ᾰ̓- (a-, "not"); λέπος (lepos, "scale"); and κεφαλή (kephalē, "head"). It has about 22 genera with ca. 96 species.[2]

The only known fossil genus is Carpathichthys from the Early Oligocene of Poland, although an undescribed species of Bathyprion and several indeterminate taxa are also known from the same formation. Fossil otoliths are also known, dating to the Early Eocene.[3][4]

  1. ^ McEachran, J.; Fechhelm, J.D. (1998). Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Vol. 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-292-75206-1. OCLC 38468784. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  2. ^ ANGULO, ARTURO; BALDWIN, CAROLE C.; ROBERTSON, D. ROSS (2016-01-18). "<strong>A new species of <em>Leptoderma</em> Vaillant, 1886 (Osmeriformes: Alepocephalidae) from the Pacific coast of Central America</strong>". Zootaxa. 4066 (4): 493–500. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4066.4.10. hdl:10669/73336. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 27395850.
  3. ^ Kotlarczyk, Janusz; Jerzmańska, Anna; Świdnicka, Ewa; Wiszniowska, Teresa (2006). "A framework of ichthyofaunal ecostratigraphy of the Oligocene-Early Miocene strata of the Polish Outer Carpathian basin". Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae. 76 (1): 1–111.
  4. ^ Near, Thomas J.; Thacker, Christine E. (2024). "Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 65 (1): 3–302. doi:10.3374/014.065.0101. ISSN 0079-032X.