Stichaeidae

{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Other uses|Shanny (disambiguation){{!}}Shanny}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Miocene|present|Miocene to present}} | image = Arctic shanny, Sticheus punctatus, in Newfoundland (7273715176).jpg | image_caption = Arctic shanny (''Sticheus punctatus'') in Newfoundland | image2 = | image2_caption = | taxon = Stichaeidae | authority = Gill, 1864<ref name = VDLEF>{{cite journal | author1 = Richard van der Laan | author2 = William N. Eschmeyer | author3 = Ronald Fricke | name-list-style = amp | year = 2014 | title = Family-group names of Recent fishes | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268078514 | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3882 | issue = 2 | pages = 001–230 | doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 | pmid = 25543675 | doi-access = free }}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies | subdivision = see text | subdivision_ref = <ref name = M&S2004>{{cite journal | author1 = Mecklenburg, C. W. | author2 = B. A. Sheiko | name-list-style = and | year = 2004 | title = Family Stichaeidae Gill 1864 — pricklebacks | journal = California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes | volume = 35 | url = https://www.calacademy.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/stichaeidae.pdf}}</ref> }}

'''Stichaeidae''', the '''pricklebacks''' or '''shannies''', are a family of marine ray-finned fishes in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes. Most species are found in the North Pacific Ocean with a few in the North Atlantic Ocean.

==Taxonomy== Stichaeidae was first proposed as a family in 1864 by the American zoologist Theodore Gill, although he called it the Stichaeoidae.<ref name = M&S2004/> The 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies this family within the suborder Zoarcoidei, within the order Scorpaeniformes.<ref name = Nelson5>{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages= 478–482 |publisher=Wiley |isbn= 978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ }}</ref> Other authorities classify this family in the infraorder Zoarcales within the suborder Cottoidei of the Perciformes because removing the Scorpaeniformes from the Perciformes renders that taxon non monophyletic.<ref name = Deepfin>{{cite journal | author1 = Ricardo Betancur-R | author2 = Edward O. Wiley | author3 = Gloria Arratia | author4 = Arturo Acero | author5 = Nicolas Bailly | author6 = Masaki Miya | author7 = Guillaume Lecointre | author8 = Guillermo Ortí | display-authors = 3 | title =Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 17 | issue = 162 | year = 2017 | page = 162 | doi = 10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3 | pmid = 28683774 | pmc = 5501477 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Presently, ''Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes'' has synonymized the Scorpaeniformes with the Perciformes and kept the Stichaeidae as a family of the Zoarcoidei within it.<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=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

''Fishes of the World'' mentions six subfamilies but does not assign genera to the subfamilies.<ref name = Nelson5/> More recently, authorities such as ''Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes'' split the Cebidichthyidae, Opisthocentridae, Lumpenidae and Neozoarcidae from the Stichaeidae as valid families, based on phylogenetic studies which found the previous taxonomy to be paraphyletic. The genera which are classified within the family Eulophiidae were also previously included within the Stichaeidae.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Radchenko |first=O. A. |date=2015-11-01 |title=The system of the suborder Zoarcoidei (Pisces, Perciformes) as inferred from molecular genetic data |journal=Russian Journal of Genetics |language=en |volume=51 |issue=11 |pages=1096–1112 |doi=10.1134/S1022795415100130 |issn=1608-3369}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brownstein |first=Chase D. |last2=Harrington |first2=Richard C. |last3=Radchenko |first3=Olga |last4=Near |first4=Thomas J. |date=2025-05-14 |title=The many origins of extremophile fishes |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2025.0217 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=292 |issue=2046 |article-number=20250217 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2025.0217 |pmc=12074803 |pmid=40359972}}</ref><ref name="CofF">{{Cof family|family=Stichaeidae|access-date=14 August 2025}}</ref>

===Subfamilies and genera=== ''Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes'' classifies Stichaeidae into 4 subfamilies and 17 genera as follows († means extinct):<ref name = M&S2004/><ref name="CofF" />

{{Columns-list|colwidth=25em| *Subfamily Stichaeinae Gill, 1864 ** Genus ''Dinogunellus'' Herzenstein, 1890 ** Genus ''Ernogrammus'' Jordan & Evermann, 1898 ** Genus ''Eumesogrammus'' Gill, 1864 ** Genus ''Plagiogrammus'' T.H. Bean, 1894 ** Genus ''Stichaeopsis'' Kner, 1870 ** Genus ''Stichaeus'' Reinhardt, 1836 ** Genus ''Ulvaria'' Jordan & Evermann, 1896 * Subfamily Chirolophinae Jordan & Evermann 1898 ** Genus ''Bryozoichthys'' Whitley, 1931 ** Genus ''Chirolophis'' Swainson, 1839 ** Genus ''Gymnoclinus'' Gilbert & Burke, 1912 ** Genus ''Soldatovia'' Taranetz, 1937 * Subfamily Alectriinae Makushok, 1958 ** Genus ''Alectrias'' Jordan & Evermann, 1898 ** Genus ''Pseudalectrias'' Lindberg, 1938 * Subfamily Xiphisterinae Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 ** Genus ''Alectridium'' Gilbert & Burke, 1912 ** Genus ''Anoplarchus'' Gill, 1861 ** Genus {{extinct}}''Nvichia'' Nazarkin, 1998<ref name = Nazarkin>{{cite journal | author = Mikhail Valerievich Nazarkin | year = 1998 | title = New Stichaeid Fishes (Stichaeidae, Perciformes) from Miocene of Sakhalin | journal = Journal of Ichthyology | volume = 38 | issue =4 | pages = 279–291 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273761112}}</ref> ** Genus ''Phytichthys'' Hubbs, 1923 ** Genus ''Xiphister'' Jordan, 1880 }}

===Etymology=== The name of the family comes from that of its type genus ''Stichaeus'', which means "set in a row", which may be an allusion to the row of black spots on the dorsal fins of the species in that genus.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = http://etyfish.org/perciformes15/ | title = Order Perciformes (Part 11): Suborder Cottoidea: Infraorder Zoarcales: Families: Anarhichadidae, Neozoarcidae, Eulophias, Stichaeidae, Lumpenidae, Ophistocentridae, Pholidae, Ptilichthyidae, Zaproridae, Cryptacanthodidae, Cebidichthyidae, Scytalinidae and Bathymasteridae | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1= Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp |date = 4 July 2021 | access-date = 8 August 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>

==Characteristics== Stichaeidae are characterised by having elongate bodies which are a little compressed. They have a very long dorsal fin which typically contains a large number of sharp spines, giving rise to the common name of prickleback, and there may be some spines at the rear of the dorsal fin. The anal fin is long and has its origin closer to the head than to the tail, or halfway between the head and tail. The pectoral fins may be very small to very large and fan shaped, containing between 2 and 21 rays. The normally present small pelvic fins are located anterior to the pectoral fins, and have a single spine and between one and four rays. There are no appendages on the head, although some species have a crest, and there is a single pair of nostrils. The body is typically covered with small, overlapping scales but the head, other than the cheeks, is normally lacking scales. The sensory canals on the head are typically well developed; there are normally 6 preopercular pores and 4 mandibular pores. There may be two lateral lines which can vary from a hardly noticeable row of neuromasts to one or more canals which can have complex branching. Their teeth are small and may be incisor-like or conical in shape. In the majority of species the gill membranes are widely joined and separate from the isthmus. Most species have a siphon on the operculum. They usually have pyloric caeca but not a swim bladder. They have ribs.<ref name = M&S2004/>

==Distribution and habitat== Stichaeidae is found in the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and Arctic oceans, with the majority of species in the North Pacific. They are coastal fishes which are found beneath rocks and in algae from the intertidal zone to shallow bays. the can be found at depths greater than {{cvt|250|m}} on the outer continental shelf.<ref name = M&S2004/>

==References== {{Reflist}} * {{FishBase family | family = Stichaeidae | month = January | year = 2006}} * {{ITIS | id = 171554 | taxon = Stichaeidae | accessdate = 25 March 2006}}

* Category:Zoarcoidei