Polymixia

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Early Paleocene|present|earliest=Campanian}} Possible Late Cretaceous occurrence | image = Polymixia nobilis.jpg | image_caption = Stout beardfish ''(P. nobilis)'' | taxon = Polymixia | authority = R. T. Lowe, 1838 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = | type_species = Polymixia nobilis | type_species_authority = R. T. Lowe, 1838 }}

'''''Polymixia''''' is the only extant genus of the order Polymixiiformes and family Polymixiidae. It contains 12 species, all of which live in deepwater marine environments.<ref name=fishbase>{{FishBase genus |genus=Polymixia |month=February |year=2017}}</ref> They are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans. They are bottom-dwelling fish, found down to about {{convert|800|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Most are relatively small fish, although one species is over {{convert|40|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name=EoF>{{cite book |editor1=Paxton, J.R. |editor2=Eschmeyer, W.N. |author= Paxton, John R.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|page=161|isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref> They can be considered "living fossils" due to being the only surviving members of the once-diverse order Polymixiiformes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=De Cia Caixeta |first=Heloísa |last2=Oliveira |first2=Claudio |last3=Melo |first3=Marcelo Roberto Souto de |date=2024-03-01 |title=Another piece of the living fossil puzzle: A new species of Polymixia Lowe, 1836 (Polymixiiformes: Polymixiidae) from the western South Atlantic |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063724000190 |journal=Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers |volume=205 |article-number=104249 |doi=10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104249 |issn=0967-0637|url-access=subscription |doi-access= |hdl=11449/299556 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Classification== There are currently 12 recognized species in this genus:<ref name=fishbase/>

* ''Polymixia berndti'' C. H. Gilbert, 1905 (Pacific beardfish) * ''Polymixia busakhini'' Kotlyar, 1993 (Busakhin's beardfish) * ''Polymixia carmenae'' Caixeta, Oliveira & de Melo, 2024 (Brazilian beardfish)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=De Cia Caixeta |first=Heloísa |last2=Oliveira |first2=Claudio |last3=Melo |first3=Marcelo Roberto Souto de |date=2024-03-01 |title=Another piece of the living fossil puzzle: A new species of Polymixia Lowe, 1836 (Polymixiiformes: Polymixiidae) from the western South Atlantic |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063724000190 |journal=Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers |volume=205 |article-number=104249 |doi=10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104249 |issn=0967-0637|url-access=subscription |doi-access= |hdl=11449/299556 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> * ''Polymixia fusca'' Kotthaus, 1970 * ''Polymixia hollisterae'' Grande & Wilson, 2021 (Bermuda beardfish)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grande |first=Terry C. |last2=Wilson |first2=Mark V. H. |date=2021-07-16 |title=A New Cryptic Species of Polymixia (Teleostei, Acanthomorpha, Polymixiiformes, Polymixiidae) Revealed by Molecules and Morphology |url=http://publication.plazi.org/id/584E866CFF8AC47AFFE3FFC1FF97FFC7 |journal=Ichthyology & Herpetology |volume=109 |issue=2 |doi=10.1643/i2020112 |issn=2766-1512|doi-access=free }}</ref> * ''Polymixia japonica'' Günther, 1877 (Silver eye) * ''Polymixia longispina'' S. M. Deng, G. Q. Xiong & H. X. Zhan, 1983 * ''Polymixia lowei'' Günther, 1859 (Beardfish) * ''Polymixia melanostoma'' Fan, Su, Lin, Chang & Lin 2024 * ''Polymixia nobilis'' R. T. Lowe, 1838 (Stout beardfish) * ''Polymixia salagomeziensis'' Kotlyar, 1991 * ''Polymixia sazonovi'' Kotlyar, 1992 * ''Polymixia yuri'' Kotlyar, 1982

The extinct species ''Polymixia polita'' Schwarzhans, 2012 is known from fossil otoliths from the early and late Paleocene of Germany and Austria.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schwarzhans |first=Werner |date=2012 |title=Fish otoliths from the Paleocene of Bavaria (Kressenberg) and Austria (Kroisbach and Oiching-Graben) / / Werner Schwarzhans. |url=https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!1040331~!1&ri=11&aspect=basic&menu=search&source=~!silibraries&profile=liball |journal=Palaeo Ichthyologica |volume=12 |pages=1-88 |website=}}</ref> Another otolith-based taxon that may possibly belong to this genus, ''Polymixia''? ''harderi'' (Schwarzhans, 2003) is known from the late Maastrichtian and early Paleocene of Denmark, in addition to a potential earlier record from the Campanian of North Carolina, USA; this may suggest Late Cretaceous origins for the genus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-15 |title=Bulletin Volume 65 – 2017 |url=https://2dgf.dk/publikationer/bulletin/bulletin-volume-65-2017/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Dansk Geologisk Forening |language=da-DK |doi=10.37570/bgsd-2017-65-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stringer |first=Gary L. |last2=Clements |first2=Don |last3=Sadorf |first3=Eric |last4=Shannon |first4=Kevin |date=2019 |title=First Description and Significance of Cretaceous Teleostean Otoliths (Tar Heel Formation, Campanian) from North Carolina |url=https://www.eaglehill.us/epalonline/access-pages/001-Stringer-accesspage.shtml |journal=Eastern Paleontologist |volume=4 |pages=1–22 |issn=2475-5117}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Polymixiiformes Category:Actinopterygii genera Category:Extant Danian first appearances