# Crestfish

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Crestfish
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Crestfish.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crestfish
> Source revision: 1345027909
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Family of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Crestfishes
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Eocene|present}}
| image = Lophotus capellei.jpg
| image_caption = North Pacific crestfish<br />''[Lophotus capellei](/source/Lophotus_capellei)''
| taxon = Lophotidae
| authority = [Bonaparte](/source/Charles_Lucien_Bonaparte), 1845
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = ''[Eumecichthys](/source/Eumecichthys)''<br/>
''[Lophotus](/source/Lophotus)''<br/>
†''[Babelichthys](/source/Babelichthys)''<ref name=Davesne>{{cite journal |last1=Davesne |first1=D. |year=2017 |title=A fossil unicorn crestfish (Teleostei, Lampridiformes, Lophotidae) from the Eocene of Iran |journal=PeerJ |volume=5 |article-number=e3381|doi=10.7717/peerj.3381|pmid=28674642 |pmc=5493034 |doi-access=free }}</ref><br/>
†''[Eolophotes](/source/Eolophotes)''<ref name=Daniltshenko>{{cite journal |last1=Daniltshenko |first1=P. G. |year=1980 |title=Iskopayemyye kostistyye ryby SSSR [Fossil bony fishes of the USSR] |journal=Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta, Akademiya Nauk CCCP |volume=178}}</ref><br/>
†''[Protolophotus](/source/Protolophotus)''<ref name=Walters>{{cite journal |last1=Walters |first1=V. |year=1957 |title=''Protolophotus'', a new genus of allotriognath fish from the Oligocene of Iran |journal=Copeia |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=60–61 |doi=10.2307/1440530|jstor=1440530 }}</ref><br/>
†''[Oligolophotes](/source/Oligolophotes)''<ref name=Bannikov>{{cite journal |last1=Bannikov |first1=A. F. |year=1999 |title=A review of fossil Lampridiformes (Teleostei) finds with a description of a new Lophotidae genus and species from the Oligocene of the northern Caucasus |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=33 |pages=68–76 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266793718}}</ref>
}}

'''Crestfishes''', family '''Lophotidae''', are [lampriform](/source/lampriform) [fish](/source/fish)es found in most oceans.<ref name=FB>{{FishBase family | family = Lophotidae | month = November| year = 2014}}</ref> It consists of two extant<ref name=FB/><ref name=Nelson>{{Cite book| last = Nelson| first = J. S.| title = Fishes of the World| author-link = Joseph S. Nelson| location = Hoboken, NJ| date = 2006| edition = 4| publisher = John Wiley & Sons| isbn = 978-0-471-25031-9| page=229| title-link = Fishes of the World}}</ref> and four extinct genera.<ref name=Davesne/>

They are elongated, ribbon-like fishes, silver in color, found in deep tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Their scientific name is from [Greek](/source/Greek_language) ''lophos'' meaning "crest" and refer to the crest (part of the [dorsal fin](/source/dorsal_fin)) that emerges from the snout and head; this structure gives them their other name of '''unicorn fishes'''.

The extant genera all possess ink sacs that open into their [cloaca](/source/cloaca)e from which they can produce a cloud of black ink when threatened (as in many [cephalopod](/source/cephalopod)s).<ref name="honma et al.">{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/BF02674944 |last1=Honma |first1=Yoshiharu |last2=Ushiki |first2=Tatsuo |last3=Takeda |first3=Masaei |title=Histology of the ink tube and its associated organs in a unicornfish, ''Eumecichthys fiskii'' (Lampridiformes) |journal=Ichthyological Research |volume=46 |issue=1 |date=Feb 1999 |pages=19–25|bibcode=1999IchtR..46...19H |s2cid=25284408 }}</ref>

== Genera ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Extant Genera
!Image
|-
|''[Eumecichthys](/source/Eumecichthys)''
|frameless|480x480px
[Unicorn crestfish](/source/Eumecichthys) (''E. fiski'')
|-
|''[Lophotus](/source/Lophotus)''
|frameless|480x480px
[Crested bandfish](/source/Crested_bandfish) (''L. guntheri'')
|-
!Fossil Genera
!Image
|-
|†''[Babelichthys](/source/Babelichthys)''
|frameless|480x480px
''†[Babelichthys olneyi](/source/Babelichthys)''
|-
|†''[Eolophotes](/source/Eolophotes)''
|frameless|480x480px
†''[Eolophotes lenis](/source/Eolophotes)''
|-
|†''[Protolophotus](/source/Protolophotus)''
|frameless|480x480px
†''[Protolophotus elami](/source/Protolophotus)''
|-
|†''[Oligolophotes](/source/Oligolophotes)''
|frameless|480x480px
†''[Oligolophotes fragosus](/source/Oligolophotes)''
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q432116}}

Category:Lophotidae
Category:Actinopterygii families

{{Lampriformes-stub}}

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