Cyclothone

Cyclothone is a genus containing 13 extant species of bioluminescent fish, commonly known as 'bristlemouths' or 'bristlefishes' due to their shared characteristic of sharp, bristle-like teeth. These fishes typically grow to around 1–3 inches (25–76 mm), though some can be larger. These deep-sea fish are most commonly found in the mesopelagic zone of the ocean, mostly at depths of over 300 meters, and many species have bioluminescence.

Cyclothone

Emma Kissling · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
GonostomatidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Stomiiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Stomiiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Stomiiformes

Time the record covers

At least 13 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 1.8 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 20 occurrencesMiocene — about 12 of 20 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 7 of 20 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 1 of 20 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.5–8.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.7–8.0 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.0–7.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.2–6.5 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences6.5–5.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences5.7–5.0 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences5.0–4.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.3–3.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.5–2.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.8–2.0 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.0–1.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences15.98 Mya2.58 Mya23.5 Mya1.3 Mya

20 occurrences of Cyclothone on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

20 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

5 formations

Makrilia — 35.04°N, 25.76°EModelo — 34.13°N, 118.42°WMonterey — 34.61°N, 120.44°WMonterey — 34.11°N, 118.43°WCapistrano — 33.47°N, 117.68°WKurasi — 47.87°N, 142.10°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Cyclothone has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 10 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cyclothone and its relatives

Miocene

Where Cyclothone and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

197 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 14 sites for Cyclothone, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

11 references

Each of the 20 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Cyclothone

Credit
Emma Kissling
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Cyclothone pallida · MCZ:Ich:91168

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itGonostomatidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Goode and Bean 1883