# Codlet

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{{Short description|Family of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Codlets
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|48|0}}Middle [Eocene](/source/Eocene) to present<ref>{{cite journal
 |last=Sepkoski 
 |first=Jack 
 |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera 
 |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology 
 |volume=364 
 |page=560 
 |date=2002 
 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class 
 |accessdate=2008-01-08 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220223520/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class 
 |archivedate=2009-02-20 
}}</ref>
| image = Bregmaceros bathymaster.png
| image_caption = ''[Bregmaceros bathymaster](/source/Bregmaceros_bathymaster)''
| parent_authority = [T. N. Gill](/source/Theodore_Gill), 1872
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Bregmaceros
| authority = [W. Thompson](/source/William_Thompson_(naturalist)) ex Cantor, 1840
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

'''Codlets''' are a family, '''Bregmacerotidae''', of [cod](/source/cod)-like fishes, containing the single genus '''''Bregmaceros''''' found in [tropical](/source/tropical) and [subtropical](/source/subtropical) waters throughout the world. They are very small fishes, and even the largest, ''B. lanceolatus'', reaches only {{convert|11.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length.

The codlets appear to be sister to all remaining Gadiformes lineages<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roa-Varón |first=Adela |last2=Dikow |first2=Rebecca B |last3=Carnevale |first3=Giorgio |last4=Tornabene |first4=Luke |last5=Baldwin |first5=Carole C |last6=Li |first6=Chenhong |last7=Hilton |first7=Eric J |date=2021-06-16 |editor-last=Ruane |editor-first=Sara |title=Confronting Sources of Systematic Error to Resolve Historically Contentious Relationships: A Case Study Using Gadiform Fishes (Teleostei, Paracanthopterygii, Gadiformes) |url=https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/70/4/739/6042700 |journal=Systematic Biology |language=en |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=739–755 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/syaa095 |issn=1063-5157 |pmc=8561434 |pmid=33346841}}</ref>, even when attempting to account for possible [long branch attraction](/source/long_branch_attraction). They are the only member of the [suborder](/source/suborder) '''Bregmacerotoidei'''.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
Their scientific name is from [Greek](/source/Greek_language) ''bregma'', meaning the top of the head, and ''keras'', meaning "horn"; this refers to their occipital ray (a spine emerging from the top of the head).

== Species ==
Currently, 17 species in this genus are recognized:<ref>{{FishBase genus | genus = Bregmaceros| month = September | year = 2024}}</ref>
* ''[Bregmaceros anchovia](/source/Bregmaceros_anchovia)'' <small>Ho, Endo & Lee, 2020</small> (false anchovy codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros arabicus](/source/Bregmaceros_arabicus)'' <small>[D'Ancona](/source/Umberto_D'Ancona) & [Cavinato](/source/Geminiano_Cavinato), 1965</small>
* ''[Bregmaceros atlanticus](/source/Bregmaceros_atlanticus)'' <small>[Goode](/source/George_Brown_Goode) & [Bean](/source/Tarleton_Hoffman_Bean), 1886</small> (antenna codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros bathymaster](/source/Bregmaceros_bathymaster)'' <small>[D. S. Jordan](/source/David_Starr_Jordan) & [Bollman](/source/Charles_Harvey_Bollman), 1890</small> (codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros cantori](/source/Bregmaceros_cantori)'' <small>[Milliken](/source/Dean_M._Milliken) & [Houde](/source/Edward_D._Houde), 1984</small> (striped codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros cayorum](/source/Bregmaceros_cayorum)'' <small>[Nichols](/source/John_Treadwell_Nichols), 1952</small>
* ''[Bregmaceros houdei](/source/Bregmaceros_houdei)'' <small>[Saksena](/source/Vishnu_P._Saksena) & [Richards](/source/William_J._Richards), 1986</small> (stellate codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros japonicus](/source/Bregmaceros_japonicus)'' <small>[S. Tanaka (I)](/source/Shigeho_Tanaka), 1908</small> (Japanese codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros lanceolatus](/source/Bregmaceros_lanceolatus)'' <small>[S. C. Shen](/source/Shen_Shih-Chieh), 1960</small>
* ''[Bregmaceros mcclellandi](/source/Bregmaceros_mcclellandi)'' <small>[W. Thompson](/source/William_Thompson_(naturalist)), 1840</small> (spotted codlet, Macclelland's unicorn-cod, unicorn cod)
* ''[Bregmaceros moseri](/source/Bregmaceros_moseri)'' <small>Harold & Baltzegar, 2023</small> (gyre codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros nectabanus](/source/Bregmaceros_nectabanus)'' <small>[Whitley](/source/Gilbert_Percy_Whitley), 1941</small> (smallscale codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros neonectabanus](/source/Bregmaceros_neonectabanus)'' <small>[S. Masuda](/source/Shinya_Masuda), [Ozawa](/source/Takakazu_Ozawa) & [Tabeta](/source/Osame_Tabeta), 1986</small>
* ''[Bregmaceros pescadorus](/source/Bregmaceros_pescadorus)'' <small>[S. C. Shen](/source/Shen_Shih-Chieh), 1960</small>
* ''[Bregmaceros pseudolanceolatus](/source/Bregmaceros_pseudolanceolatus)'' <small>[Torii](/source/Akihisa_Torii), [Javonillo](/source/Robert_Javonillo) & [Ozawa](/source/Takakazu_Ozawa), 2004</small> (false lance codlet)
* ''[Bregmaceros rarisquamosus](/source/Bregmaceros_rarisquamosus)'' <small>[Munro](/source/Ian_Stafford_Ross_Munro), 1950</small> (big-eye unicorn-cod)
* ''[Bregmaceros retrodorsalis](/source/Bregmaceros_retrodorsalis)'' <small>Ho & Endo, 2020</small> (back-fin codlet)

=== Fossil species ===
[[File:Bregmaceros albyi fiumana.JPG|thumb|Fossil of ''[Bregmaceros albyi](/source/Bregmaceros_albyi)'' from Italy]]
Fossils of ''Bregmaceros'' are found from the [Eocene](/source/Eocene) to the [Quaternary](/source/Quaternary) (age range: from 37.2 to 0.0 million years ago). They are known from various localities in Europe, North America, Africa, and Australasia. A few are known from articulated fossils' skeletons, but a vast majority of fossil bregmacerotid remains are only from isolated, diagnostic otoliths.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Přikryl |first=Tomáš |last2=Brzobohatý |first2=Rostislav |last3=Gregorová |first3=Růžena |date=2016-03-01 |title=Diversity and distribution of fossil codlets (Teleostei, Gadiformes, Bregmacerotidae): review and commentary |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-015-0222-z |journal=Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments |language=en |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=13–39 |doi=10.1007/s12549-015-0222-z |issn=1867-1608|url-access=subscription |hdl=11104/0259863 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> About 14 fossil ''Bregmaceros'' species are known, with two from articulated skeletons and 12 known from [otoliths](/source/Otolith):<ref name=":0" />

* †[''Bregmaceros'' ''albyi''](/source/Bregmaceros_albyi) <small>([Sauvage](/source/Henri_%C3%89mile_Sauvage), 1880)</small> (''B. bosniaski'' <small>(Sauvage, 1880)</small>) - [Miocene](/source/Miocene) of Spain, Portugal, Italy, [Algeria](/source/Algeria), [Gabon](/source/Gabon), Greece, [Malta](/source/Malta), [Austria](/source/Austria), Poland, the [Czech Republic](/source/Czech_Republic) & the eastern United States, and Pliocene of Spain, Italy & Greece. Known from both fossil skeletons and isolated otoliths.
* †''[Bregmaceros antiquus](/source/Bregmaceros_antiquus)'' <small>Schwarzhans, 1980</small> - late Eocene of [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand) [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros brihandensis](/source/Bregmaceros_brihandensis)'' <small>Nolf, 1988</small> - late Eocene of France & Italy [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros catulus](/source/Bregmaceros_catulus)'' <small>(Schubert, 1908)</small> - early Oligocene of the Czech Republic [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros deklaszi](/source/Bregmaceros_deklaszi)'' <small>Schwarzhans, 2013</small> - Oligocene of France, early Miocene of Italy, mid-late Miocene of Gabon [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros felkeri](/source/Bregmaceros_felkeri)'' <small>Schwarzhans, 2007</small> - middle Eocene of Germany [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros filamentosus](/source/Bregmaceros_filamentosus)'' <small>(Priem, 1908)</small> - mid-late [Eocene](/source/Eocene) of [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(country)) & Iran, [Oligocene](/source/Oligocene) of Poland, [Romania](/source/Romania) & [North Caucasus](/source/North_Caucasus) (Russia), potentially Miocene of Egypt & the Czech Republic. Known from fossil skeletons and isolated otoliths.
* †''[Bregmaceros hybridus](/source/Bregmaceros_hybridus)'' <small>Schwarzhans, 2013</small> - early Miocene of Italy, early-mid Miocene of Spain, mid-late Miocene of Gabon [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros luellingensis](/source/Bregmaceros_luellingensis)'' <small>Schwarzhans</small> <small>& Wienrich, 2009</small> - early Miocene of Mexico, middle Miocene of Germany [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros minimus](/source/Bregmaceros_minimus)'' <small>(Frost, 1934)</small> - middle Eocene of England, late Eocene of Ukraine [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros minutus](/source/Bregmaceros_minutus)'' <small>Stinton, 1958</small> - middle Miocene of [South Australia](/source/South_Australia) [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros oblongus](/source/Bregmaceros_oblongus)'' <small>Schwarzhans, 1977</small> - early Oligocene of Germany [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros prosoponos](/source/Bregmaceros_prosoponos)'' <small>Grenfell, 1984</small> - early Miocene of New Zealand [otolith]
* †''[Bregmaceros troelli](/source/Bregmaceros_troelli)'' <small>Dante</small> <small>& Frizzell, 1965</small> - middle Eocene of Texas, US [otolith]

A potential extinct relative, ''[Bregmacerina](/source/Bregmacerina)'', is known from the Early Miocene of Russia, where it inhabited the [Paratethys](/source/Paratethys). It shares close similarities to ''Bregmaceros'' in the reduction of the first dorsal fin, but differs in other aspects. It remains uncertain whether it is an actual member of the Bregmacerotidae.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
<references/>
* {{FishBase family | family = Bregmacerotidae | month = February | year = 2006}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1307961}}

Category:Bregmacerotidae

{{Gadiformes-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Codlet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codlet) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codlet?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.