Gonostomatidae

Common card · No. 370975

The Gonostomatidae are a family of mesopelagic marine fish, commonly named bristlemouths or anglemouths. Their common name, bristlemouth, comes from their odd, equally sized, and bristle-like teeth. It is a relatively small family, containing only eight known genera and 32 species. However, bristlemouths make up for their lack of diversity with relative abundance, numbering in the hundreds of trillions to quadrillions. The genus Cyclothone (with 14 species) is thought to be one of the most abundant vertebrate genera in the world. The fossil record of this family dates back to the Eocene epoch. Living bristlemouths were discovered by William Beebe in the early 1930s and described by L. S. Berg in 1958. These fish are mostly found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, although the species Cyclothone microdon may be found in Arctic waters. They have elongated bodies from 2 to 30 cm (0.79 to 11.81 in) in length. They have a number of green or red light-producing photophores aligned along...

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