Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 23, 2026

Acanthonus

Acanthonus, also known as deepsea cusk-eels, are a genus of deepwater ophidiiform fish. They are the only members of the family Acanthonidae. They were formerly placed within the subfamily Neobythiinae of the Ophidiidae.

Last revised
Jun 23, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
259 w
Citations
5
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Acanthonus
Bony-eared assfish (Acanthonus armatus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Ophidiiformes
Suborder: Ophidioidei
Family: Acanthonidae
Wong & Chen, 2024
Genus: Acanthonus
Günther, 1878
Species

See text

Synonyms1
  • Tauredophidium Alcock, 1890
  • Xyelacyba Cohen, 1961
Acanthonus armatus source ↗

Acanthonus, also known as deepsea cusk-eels, are a genus of deepwater ophidiiform fish. They are the only members of the family Acanthonidae. They were formerly placed within the subfamily Neobythiinae of the Ophidiidae.123

Species

There are three valid species:4

Synonyms

Acanthonus spinifer Garman, 1899 accepted as Acanthonus armatus Günther, 1878

References

References

  1. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Acanthonus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences.
  2. Wong, Man-Kwan; Chen, Wei-Jen (2024-10-01). "Exploring the phylogeny and depth evolution of cusk eels and their relatives (Ophidiiformes: Ophidioidei)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 199 108164. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108164. ISSN 1055-7903.
  3. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard, eds. (2025). "ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (21 March 2018). "Order OPHIDIIFORMES: Families CARAPIDAE and OPHIDIIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 12 July 2018.

Girard, Matthew G.; Nonaka, Ai; Baldwin, Carole C.; Johnson, G. David (2024). "Discovery and description of elaborate larval cusk-eels and the relationships among Acanthonus, Tauredophidium, and Xyelacyba (Teleostei: Ophidiidae)". Early Life History and Biology of Marine Fishes: Research Inspired by the Work of H Geoffrey Moser: 20–42. doi:10.7755/pp.24.3.