Ronquil

{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Ronquils | image = searcher ronquil.jpg | image_caption = Searcher ''(Bathymaster signatus)'' | taxon = Bathymasteridae | authority = D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1883<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 = Genera | subdivision = see text }}

'''Ronquils''' (sometimes spelt '''ronchils''') is a small family marine ray-finned fish, the '''Bathymasteridae'''. These fishes are found only in Arctic and North Pacific waters. This family contains just seven species in three genera. The larger species are important to commercial fisheries as food fish. Ronquils are most closely related to the eelpouts and prowfish in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes.

==Taxonomy== The Bathymasteridae was first proposed as a family in 1883 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert.<ref name = VDLEF/> 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> The monophyly of the Zoarcoidei has still not been fully ascertained but it is generally accepted that the most basal family is Bathymasteridae.<ref name = Nelson5/>

==Etymology== The name ''ronquil'' is said to be an anglicization from the Spanish ''ronco'', ''ronquillo'' being a diminutive, and which means "one who grunts". The family name ''Bathymasteridae'' is derived from the type genus ''Bathymaster'' and this can be translated from the Greek to mean "deep searcher".<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 = 27 July 2022 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>

==Genera== The ronquil family contains seven species divided into three genera as follows:<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase family|family=Bathymasteridae|month=February|year=2022}}</ref><ref name = ETYFish/> {{Linked genus list |Bathymaster | Cope, 1873 |Rathbunella | Jordan & Evermann, 1896 |Ronquilus | Jordan & Starks, 1895 }}

==Characteristics== Ronquils have elongate with long dorsal and anal fins which are even in height along all of their length. These fins are separated from the large, truncate to round caudal fin by a clear caudal peduncle. There are between 43 and 49 branched and unbranched rays in the dorsal fin while the anal fin contains between 31 and 36 rays. These ray counts include between 1 and 6 weak, pliant to the front of the dorsal fin and 1 or 2 similar spines in the front of the anal fin. The pectoral fins are large and rounded while the pelvic fins are located on the thorax, and have a single spine and 5 soft rays. There is a single pair of nostrils. The scales vary from weakly ctenoid, nearly smooth, to strongly ctenoid. There are sensory pores on the upper head of head and on the cheeks and these are obvious. The lateral line is clearly visible and runs on the upper body, straight to the rear of the dorsal fin, and has between 75 and 105 scales. The roof of the mouth has palatine and vomerine teeth. The bill membrane is separate from the isthmus, in most cases. There is no swim bladder. These fishes may be olive brown to dull red, bluish black, or purplish in their overall colour, they can be marked with bright green, blue, yellow, red, orange, and white bars, spots or other markings. The colour and patterns often vary between populations or be an expression of sexual dimorphism.<ref name = Mecklenburg>{{cite web | author = Mecklenburg, C. W. | year = 2003 | title = Family Bathymasteridae Jordan & Gilbert 1883 — ronquils | work = California Academy of Sciences Annotated Checklists of Fishes No. 7 | publisher = California Academy of Sciences | url = https://www.calacademy.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/bathymasteridae.pdf}}</ref> Ronquins vary in size from a total length of {{cvt|20|cm}} in ''Ronquilus jordani'' to more over {{cvt|38|cm}} for ''Bathymaster signatus''.<ref name = Fishbase/>

==Distribution, habitat and behaviour== Ronqulis inhabit cold waters in the North Pacific where they have a wide range from Baja California to the Sea of Japan, ronquils are benthic animals, spending most of their time on or near the bottom.<ref name = Mecklenburg/> These fishes are typically found in shallow coastal waters down to depths of around {{cvt|200|m}}, however, ''Bathymaster signatus'' has been taken from depths in excess of {{cvt|300|m}} in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.<ref name = Stevenson>{{cite journal | author = Stevenson, Duane | author2 = Ann C. Matarese | year = 2005 |title = The ronquils: a review of the North Pacific fish family Bathymasteridae (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Zoarcoidei) | journal = Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington | volume = 118 | issue = 2 | pages = 367–406 | doi = 10.2988/0006-324X(2005)118[367:TRAROT]2.0.CO;2| s2cid = 85708727 }}</ref>

Ronquils feed primarily on small benthic crustaceans and mollusks, and the stomachs of some specimens sampled contained only nudibranch]s. Little is known about predators of ronqulis but it is presumed that most larger carnivores that occur in the same areas as them, especially predatory fishes, will prey on them.<ref name = Fitch>{{cite book | author1 = John E. Fitch | author2 = Robert J. Lavenberg | year = 1975 | title = Tidepool and Nearshore Fishes of California | pages = 25–26 | publisher = University of California Press | isbn = 0520028457 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=S_uYbDEKyhgC&dq=predators+of+ronquils&pg=PA26}}</ref> Although considered fairly common, ronquils are rarely observed; this is likely owing to their secretive nature.<ref name = BM>{{cite web | url = https://www.burkemuseum.org/static/FishKey/bathy.html | title = Bathymasteridae | access-date = 27 July 2022 | publisher = Burke Museum}}</ref>

Few specifics are recorded regarding ronquil spawning, but the males are known to guard the brood.<ref name = Fishbase/> The males have been known to cannibalize some of the eggs they are guarding.<ref name = Fitch/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Bathymasteridae Category:Zoarcoidei Category:Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Category:Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert