Family CYTTIDAE
Bigeye Dories, Lookdown Dories
Compiler and date details
John R. Paxton, Dianne J. Bray, Jennifer E. Gates & Douglass F. Hoese
Introduction
The Cyttidae comprise a single genus, Cyttus, with three species. All the species have been recorded from Australian waters.
Lookdown or bigeye dories are benthic on the continental shelf and slope, trawled in depths to 600 m. They have ovoid, compressed bodies, large, highly protrusible jaws and small to moderate-sized eyes. They are characterised by having slightly enlarged scutes in a 'zipper-like' pattern from the isthmus to the pelvic fin origin. They are commercially important in Australia and overseas. Maximum length attained is 50 cm.
The cyttids were reviewed by Heemstra (1980), revised by Bray (1983) and recently redefined by Tyler et al. (2003). Species are treated in Heemstra (1999, 2003).
General References
Bray, D.J. 1983. Revision of the fish family Zeidae. Unpublished MSc Thesis, Macquarie University, Sydney. 160 pp. 27 figs
Heemstra, P.C. 1980. A revision of the zeid fishes (Zeiformes : Zeidae) of South Africa. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute, Grahamstown 41: 1-18 figs 1-5 pls 1-2
Heemstra, P.C. 1999. Families Parazenidae, Macrocyttidae, Zeidae, Grammicolepididae, Caproidae. pp. 2257-2261 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 2069-2790 pp.
Heemstra, P.C. 2003. Families Parazenidae, Zeniontidae, Zeidae, Oreosomatidae, Grammicolepidae. pp. 1203-1216 in Carpenter, K.E. (ed.). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Rome : FAO & American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists Vol. 2 602-1373 pp.
McCulloch, A.R. 1911. Report on the fishes obtained by the F.I.S. Endeavour on the coasts of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. Part 1. Zoological (Biological) Results. Endeavour 1(1): 1-87 figs 1-20 pls 1-16
Tyler, J.C., O'Toole, B. & Winterbottom, R.W. 2003. Phylogeny of the genera and families of zeiform fishes, with comments on their relationships with tetraodontiforms and caproids. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 618: 1-110
Common Name References
Tyler, J.C., O'Toole, B. & Winterbottom, R.W. 2003. Phylogeny of the genera and families of zeiform fishes, with comments on their relationships with tetraodontiforms and caproids. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 618: 1-110 [35] (Bigeye Dories, Lookdown Dories)