Macrouridae

Macrouroidei is a suborder of deep sea fish, a diverse and ecologically important group, which are part of the order of cod-like fish, the Gadiformes. The species in the Macrouroidei are characterised by their large heads which normally have a single barbel on the chin, projecting snouts, and slender bodies that taper to whip-like tails, without an obvious caudal fin but what there is of the caudal fin is often confluent with the posterior dorsal and anal fins. There are normally two dorsal fins, the anterior dorsal fin is quite high, the posterior quite low but is longer and takes up a greater proportion of the fish's back. A few species in the Trachyrincidae have a single dorsal fin. The long anal fin is almost as long as the posterior dorsal fin, and sometimes it is longer. The pelvic fin is inserted in the vicinity of the thorax and normally has 5–17 fin rays but these are absent in Macrouroides. The body is covered in small scales and if they have a photophore, it is usually on the midline of the abdomen just in front of the anus. The bioluminescence of these fish is produced by symbiotic bioluminescent bacteria. The structure of the skull has been used to show their placing in the Gadiformes, but they differ from the typical cods in that they possess one stout spine in the anterior dorsal fin.

Macrouridae

NOAA's Fisheries Collection; SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC · 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
Also called
grenadiersPBDB
Sits inside
GadiformesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Gadiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Gadiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Gadiformes

Time the record covers

At least 59 million years on record.

The record covers at least 59.24 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 61.66 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Paleocene — about 5 of 306 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 24 of 306 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 27 of 306 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 185 of 306 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 35 of 306 occurrencesPleistocene — about 31 of 306 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 1 occurrence61–59 Mya — about 3 occurrences59–57 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences55–52 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 2 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 2 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 2 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 3 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 4 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 5 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 4 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 1 occurrence31–29 Mya — about 1 occurrence29–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 12 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 10 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 14 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 17 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 49 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 28 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 15 occurrences13–10 Mya — about 17 occurrences10–8.4 Mya — about 22 occurrences8.4–6.3 Mya — about 17 occurrences6.3–4.2 Mya — about 19 occurrences4.2–2.1 Mya — about 27 occurrences2.1–0 Mya — about 24 occurrences59.24 Mya129 ka63 Mya0 Mya

306 occurrences of Macrouridae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

306 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

51 formations

Mount Harris — 44.20°S, 170.71°EMount Harris — 44.48°S, 170.90°EMount Harris — 45.21°S, 170.88°EMount Harris — 45.14°S, 170.94°EMount Harris — 45.13°S, 170.96°EMount Harris — 44.30°S, 170.99°EMount Harris — 44.49°S, 171.01°EMount Harris — 44.82°S, 170.88°EMount Harris — 45.03°S, 171.02°EMount Harris — 44.83°S, 170.97°ENavidad — 33.91°S, 71.84°WNavidad — 33.94°S, 71.85°WRifle Butts — 45.03°S, 170.02°ERifle Butts — 45.12°S, 170.93°ERifle Butts — 45.08°S, 170.95°EBells Creek Mudstone — 41.34°S, 175.46°ERifle Butts Siltstone — 45.14°S, 170.93°EGutingkeng — 23.00°N, 120.42°EGutingkeng — 22.84°N, 120.41°EWhenuataru Tuff — 44.23°S, 176.23°EWhenuataru Tuff — 44.24°S, 176.28°EKreyenhagen — 34.99°N, 119.34°WKreyenhagen — 35.67°N, 119.95°WSant’Agata Fossili — 45.07°N, 7.94°EWaioha Shellbeds — 34.50°S, 172.96°ELacui — 41.75°S, 73.84°WLacui — 42.69°S, 74.12°WArgille Azzurre — 43.31°N, 11.49°EBarton Clay — 50.74°N, 1.69°WRaz-el-Ain — 35.71°N, 0.64°WLa Meseta — 64.23°S, 56.67°WMiretrain Marl — 43.57°N, 1.11°WIhungia — 38.05°S, 178.14°EPakaurangi — 36.24°S, 174.28°EBells Creek Limestone — 41.33°S, 175.48°ESouthburn Sand — 44.30°S, 171.00°EChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.05°WMiyata — 35.19°N, 39.65°EElmore — 50.80°N, 1.21°WBarton Beds — 50.78°N, 1.73°W

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The named rock units Macrouridae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 27 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 162 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Macrouridae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Macrouridae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,179 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 156 sites for Macrouridae, 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

53 references

Each of the 306 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. 41 further references are not listed. 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 content1

Picture of Macrouridae

Credit
NOAA's Fisheries Collection; SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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 itGadiformes through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Jordan and Evermann 1898