Gonostomatidae
The Gonostomatidae are a family of mesopelagic marine fish, commonly named bristlemouths, lightfishes, or anglemouths. It is a relatively small family, containing only eight known genera and 32 species. However, bristlemouths make up for their lack of diversity with relative abundance, numbering in the hundreds of trillions to quadrillions.[1] The genera Cyclothone (with 13 species) is thought to be one of the most abundant vertebrate genera in the world.
The fossil record of this family dates back to the Miocene epoch. Living bristlemouths were discovered by William Beebe in the early 1930s and described by L. S. Berg in 1958. The fish are mostly found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, although the species Cyclothone microdon may be found in Arctic waters. They have elongated bodies from 2 to 30 cm (0.79 to 11.81 in) in length.[2] They have a number of green or red light-producing photophores aligned along the undersides of their heads or bodies.[1] Their chief common name, bristlemouth, comes from their odd, equally sized, and bristle-like teeth. They are typically black in color which provides camouflage from predators in deep, dark waters. They mainly feed on zooplankton and small crustaceans due to their small size.[3]
Bristlemouths are protandrous, therefore a male first hermaphrodite. They begin their lives as males and some of them switch to female. Male bristlemouths are smaller than females.[4]
Bristlemouths have large jaws that are capable of catching prey larger than themselves. The length of the S. glarisianus's (a species of Bristlemouth) lower jaw is equaled to 70% of the entire length of their head.[5] The lower jaw of the Bristlemouths is not functional in terms of masticating their prey. It is therefore hypothesized that they swallow their prey tail first.[5]
Bristlemouths are extremely small, measuring on average 75 mm. Bristlemouths have elongated bodies, small eyes, short snouts, large mouths, and large jaws. The position of the dorsal fin begins in line with the anal fin. The difference between bristlemouths species is found in the intensity of their pigmentation and photophore size. For the majority of the species, the morphology remains the same.[6]
Bristlemouths are mostly dark in pigmentation but at times can display translucently.[4] Bristlemouths contain a pineal organ which functions to detect slow changing ambient light. This allows the Bristlemouth to have control over its circadian clock and seasonal behavior.[7]
