Family BREGMACEROTIDAE
Codlets, Codlings, Unicorn Cod
Compiler and date details
John R. Paxton, Jennifer E. Gates & Dianne J. Bray
Introduction
Bregmacerotids are pelagic in all tropical and subtropical seas. A single genus with 16 species is recognised (Cohen 1990). Six species have been recorded from Australia.
Some codlets are oceanic whereas others occur in inshore waters. They have the first dorsal fin represented by a single ray on the head, as well as elongate, opposite and emarginate second dorsal and anal fins and jugular pelvic fins with some elongate rays. Maximum length is about 12 cm.
The unicorn cods or codlets were revised by d'Ancona & Cavinato (1965), Belyanina (1974) and Houde (1984). Munro (1950) described larval Bregmaceros from Australian waters. Few adult specimens are represented in collections and the Australian species require study; recent papers by Torii et al. (2003a, 2003b, 2004) have solved some of the problems and new species from Australian waters await description. The monotypic genus Auchenoceros, known only from New Zealand, is now placed in the family Moridae (see Paulin 1983).
General References
Belyanina, T.N. 1974. Materials on development, taxonomy and distribution of the fishes of the family Bregmacerotidae. Trudy Instituta Okeanologii. Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Moskva 96: 143-188 figs 1-12 [in Russian]
Cohen, D.M. 1990. Families Bregmacerotidae, Euclichthyidae, Gadidae. pp. 16-89 in Cohen, D.M., Inada, T., Iwamoto, T. & Scialabba, N. FAO Species Catalogue. Gadiform fishes of the world (order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiform fishes known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125. Rome : FAO Vol. 10 442 pp.
D'Ancona, U. & Cavinato, G. 1965. The fishes of the family Bregmacerotidae. Dana Reports 64: 1-93 figs 1-58
Houde, E.D. 1984. Bregmacerotidae: development and relationships. 300-308 figs 153-157 in Moser, H.G. et al. (eds). Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Special Publication 1: 1-760
Munro, I.S.R. 1950. Revision of Bregmaceros with descriptions of larval stages from Australasia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 61(5): 37-53 figs 1-10
Paulin, C.D. 1983. A revision of the family Moridae (Pisces : Anacanthini) within the New Zealand region. Records of the National Museum of New Zealand 2(9): 81-126 figs 1-27
Torii, A., Harold, A.S. & Ozawa, T. 2003a. Redescription of type specimens of three Bregmaceros species (Gadiformes: Bregmacerotidae): B. bathymaster, B. rarisquamosus, and B. cayorum. Memoirs of the Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University 52: 23-32 figs 1-6
Torii, A., Javonillo, R. & Ozawa, T. 2004. Reexamination of Bregmaceros lanceolatus Shen, 1960 with description of a new species Bregmaceros pseudolanceolatus (Gadiformes: Bregmacerotidae). Ichthyological Research 51: 106-112 figs 1-7
Torii, A., Ozawa, T. & Harold, A.S. 2003b. Morphological characters of Bregmaceros japonicus Tanaka, 1908 (Gadiformes: Bregmacerotidae). Memoirs of the Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University 52: 43-50 figs 1-8
Common Name References
Iwamoto, T. 1999. Families Macrouridae, Bathylagidae, Moridae, Bregmacerotidae. pp. 1986-1998 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 1397-2068 pp. [1997] (FAO) (Codlets, Codlings)
Whitley, G.P. 1966. Marine Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : Jacaranda Press Vol. 1 pp. 1-142 [59] (Unicorn Cod)