Barreleye

Barreleyes
Opisthoproctus soleatus. This image is drawn from a specimen taken to the surface; in a live specimen, the membrane over the top of the head forms a transparent dome.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Argentiniformes
Family: Opisthoproctidae
Schmidt, 1918
Genera
The eyes of Winteria telescopa differ slightly from those of other opisthoproctids by their more forward-pointing gaze.

Barreleyes, also known as spook fish (a name also applied to several species of chimaera), are small deep-sea argentiniform fish comprising the family Opisthoproctidae found in tropical-to-temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.[2][3][4][5]

These fish are named because of their barrel-shaped, tubular eyes, which are generally directed upwards to detect the silhouettes of available prey; however, the fish are capable of directing their eyes forward, as well. The family name Opisthoproctidae is derived from the Greek words opisthe 'behind' and proktos 'anus'.

  1. ^ Poulsen, Jan Yde; Sado, Tetsuya; Hahn, Christoph; Byrkjedal, Ingvar; Moku, Masatoshi; Miya, Masaki (2016). "Preservation obscures pelagic deep-sea fish diversity: doubling the number of sole-bearing opisthoproctids and resurrection of the genus Monacoa (Opisthoproctidae, Argentiniformes)". PLOS ONE. 11 (8): e0159762. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1159762P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159762.
  2. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Opisthoproctidae". FishBase. February 2012 version.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nelson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ A. G. V. Salvanes; J. B. Kristofersen (2001). "Mesopelagic fishes". Encyclopedia of ocean sciences. Vol. 3. pp. 1711–1717.
  5. ^ Peter B. Moyle; Joseph J. Cech, Jr (2004). Fishes: An introduction to ichthyology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-13-100847-2.