Codlet

{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Codlets | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|48|0}}Middle 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'' | parent_authority = T. N. Gill, 1872 | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Bregmaceros | authority = W. Thompson ex Cantor, 1840 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text }}

'''Codlets''' are a family, '''Bregmacerotidae''', of cod-like fishes, containing the single genus '''''Bregmaceros''''' found in tropical and 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. They are the only member of the 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 ''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'' Ho, Endo & Lee, 2020 (false anchovy codlet) * ''Bregmaceros arabicus'' D'Ancona & Cavinato, 1965 * ''Bregmaceros atlanticus'' Goode & Bean, 1886 (antenna codlet) * ''Bregmaceros bathymaster'' D. S. Jordan & Bollman, 1890 (codlet) * ''Bregmaceros cantori'' Milliken & Houde, 1984 (striped codlet) * ''Bregmaceros cayorum'' Nichols, 1952 * ''Bregmaceros houdei'' Saksena & Richards, 1986 (stellate codlet) * ''Bregmaceros japonicus'' S. Tanaka (I), 1908 (Japanese codlet) * ''Bregmaceros lanceolatus'' S. C. Shen, 1960 * ''Bregmaceros mcclellandi'' W. Thompson, 1840 (spotted codlet, Macclelland's unicorn-cod, unicorn cod) * ''Bregmaceros moseri'' Harold & Baltzegar, 2023 (gyre codlet) * ''Bregmaceros nectabanus'' Whitley, 1941 (smallscale codlet) * ''Bregmaceros neonectabanus'' S. Masuda, Ozawa & Tabeta, 1986 * ''Bregmaceros pescadorus'' S. C. Shen, 1960 * ''Bregmaceros pseudolanceolatus'' Torii, Javonillo & Ozawa, 2004 (false lance codlet) * ''Bregmaceros rarisquamosus'' Munro, 1950 (big-eye unicorn-cod) * ''Bregmaceros retrodorsalis'' Ho & Endo, 2020 (back-fin codlet)

=== Fossil species === [[File:Bregmaceros albyi fiumana.JPG|thumb|Fossil of ''Bregmaceros albyi'' from Italy]] Fossils of ''Bregmaceros'' are found from the Eocene to the 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:<ref name=":0" />

* †''Bregmaceros'' ''albyi'' (Sauvage, 1880) (''B. bosniaski'' (Sauvage, 1880)) - Miocene of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Algeria, Gabon, Greece, Malta, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic & the eastern United States, and Pliocene of Spain, Italy & Greece. Known from both fossil skeletons and isolated otoliths. * †''Bregmaceros antiquus'' Schwarzhans, 1980 - late Eocene of New Zealand [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros brihandensis'' Nolf, 1988 - late Eocene of France & Italy [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros catulus'' (Schubert, 1908) - early Oligocene of the Czech Republic [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros deklaszi'' Schwarzhans, 2013 - Oligocene of France, early Miocene of Italy, mid-late Miocene of Gabon [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros felkeri'' Schwarzhans, 2007 - middle Eocene of Germany [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros filamentosus'' (Priem, 1908) - mid-late Eocene of Georgia & Iran, Oligocene of Poland, Romania & North Caucasus (Russia), potentially Miocene of Egypt & the Czech Republic. Known from fossil skeletons and isolated otoliths. * †''Bregmaceros hybridus'' Schwarzhans, 2013 - early Miocene of Italy, early-mid Miocene of Spain, mid-late Miocene of Gabon [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros luellingensis'' Schwarzhans & Wienrich, 2009 - early Miocene of Mexico, middle Miocene of Germany [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros minimus'' (Frost, 1934) - middle Eocene of England, late Eocene of Ukraine [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros minutus'' Stinton, 1958 - middle Miocene of South Australia [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros oblongus'' Schwarzhans, 1977 - early Oligocene of Germany [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros prosoponos'' Grenfell, 1984 - early Miocene of New Zealand [otolith] * †''Bregmaceros troelli'' Dante & Frizzell, 1965 - middle Eocene of Texas, US [otolith]

A potential extinct relative, ''Bregmacerina'', is known from the Early Miocene of Russia, where it inhabited the 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}}

Category:Bregmacerotidae