Revised 10 March 2024
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Alepocephalus Risso 1820 á– (Gr. ἄ), without; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale; cephalus, from kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to absence of scales on head (hence “slickhead” vernacular)

Alepocephalus agassizii Goode & Bean 1883 in honor of Swiss-born American mining magnate and zoologist Alexander Agassiz (1835– 1910), Curator, Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard), and supervisor of the dredging and trawling expedition during which holotype was collected (authors say name complements that of A. bairdii, the only other American species of Alepocephalus known at the time, named in honor of the Director of the U.S. National Museum)

Alepocephalus andersoni Fowler 1934 in honor of mineralogist-paleontologist Charles Anderson (1876–1944), Director of the Australian Museum, who “contributed much to [Fowler’s] delightful stay in Sydney”

Alepocephalus antipodianus (Parrott 1948) –anus (L.), belonging to: the Antipodes (from ἀντίποδες, antipodeans, “with feet opposite ours,” i.e., the other side of the globe), referring to its New Zealand distribution, figuratively the other side of the world from the British Isles

Alepocephalus asperifrons Garman 1899 asper (L.), rough; frons (L.), brow or forehead, referring to ridges on frontal bone between eyes, which have a “very rough or serrated profile”

Alepocephalus australis Barnard 1923 Latin for southern, described from South African waters (a circumglobal species that occurs mostly in the Southern Hemisphere)

Alepocephalus australis barnardi Norman 1930 in honor of marine biologist Keppel Harcourt Barnard (1887–1964), South African Museum, who described the nominate subspecies in 1923

Alepocephalus bairdii Goode & Bean 1879 in honor of Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823–1887), Director, U.S. National Museum

Alepocephalus bicolor Alcock 1891 bi-, from bis (L.), twice, i.e., two-colored, head black and body a “uniform dull slate-blue”

Alepocephalus blanfordii Alcock 1892 patronym not identified, probably in honor of William Thomas Blanford (1832–1905), who studied the zoology and geology of India, near where type locality (Gulf of Mannar) is situated

Alepocephalus dentifer Sazonov & Ivanov 1979 dentis, genitive of dens (L.), tooth; –fer, from fero (L.), to have or bear, referring to presence of teeth on the maxillaries, rare in the genus

Alepocephalus fundulus Garman 1899 etymology not explained, perhaps from fundus (L.), base or bottom, referring to its occurrence on or near the bottom of the sea

Alepocephalus longiceps Lloyd 1909 longus (L.), long; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to head length “considerably more than a third” of standard length

Alepocephalus longirostris Okamura & Kawanishi 1984 longus (L.), long; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum, snout, referring to snout longer than orbit diameter

Alepocephalus melas de Buen 1961 mélas (Gr. μέλας), black, referring to its uniform black coloration in formalin

Alepocephalus owstoni Tanaka 1908 in honor of Alan Owston (1853–1915), English businessman, yachtsman, and collector of Asian wildlife, whose collection provided holotype

Alepocephalus planifrons Sazonov 1993 planus (L.), smooth; frons (L.), brow or forehead, referring to wide and smooth upper surface of head

Alepocephalus productus Gill 1883 Latin for lengthened or prolonged, referring to its longer snout compared with A. agassizii

Alepocephalus rostratus Risso 1820 Latin for beaked, referring to its somewhat prolonged and rounded snout

Alepocephalus tenebrosus Gilbert 1892 Latin for dark or gloomy, probably referring to “uniform blue-black” coloration

Alepocephalus triangularis Okamura & Kawanishi 1984 Latin for triangular, referring to the anterior portion of its snout, triangular in dorsal view

Alepocephalus umbriceps Jordan & Thompson 1914 umbra (L.), shade; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to its “dense black” head

Asquamiceps Zugmayer 1911 á– (Gr. ἄ), without; squama (L.), scale; –ceps (Neo-Latin) headed (but treated here as a noun, head, as all genus-level names are nouns), referring to scaleless head of A. velaris (common to all alepocephalids, hence the “slickhead” vernacular)

Asquamiceps caeruleus Markle 1980 Latin for dark blue, referring to its “striking cobalt blue” head

Asquamiceps hjorti (Koefoed 1927) in honor of Norwegian oceanographer Johan Hjort (1869–1948), who, with oceanographer John Murray, led the Michael Sars Expedition (1910), during which holotype was collected type [see Conocara murrayi]

Asquamiceps longmani Fowler 1934 in honor of Heber A. Longman (1880–1954), Director of the Queensland Museum, “with remembrance of a pleasant stay in Brisbane”

Asquamiceps velaris Zugmayer 1911 Latin for like a veil or curtain, referring to its large, fan-like pectoral fins

Aulastomatomorpha Alcock 1890 aulós (Gr. αὐλός), flute or pipe; stómatos (Gr. στόματος), genitive of stóma (στόμα), mouth; morpha, from morphḗ (Gr. μορφή), form, referring to “anterior bones of the head produced into a snout” like that of the trumpetfish genus Aulostomus (misspelled Aulastoma by Alcock)

Aulastomatomorpha phospherops Alcock 1890 phṓsphoros (Gr. φώσφορος), bringing or giving light; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), face or appearance, referring to head “completely invested by a thick spongy or fungus-like poriferous skin, of a brilliant snow-white reflexion, and probably luminous in function”

Bajacalifornia Townsend & Nichols 1925 named for the peninsula of Lower California, where type locality of type species, E. burragei, is situated

Bajacalifornia aequatoris Miya & Markle 1993 Latin for equatorial, referring to the central equatorial Pacific, only known area of occurrence

Bajacalifornia arcylepis Markle & Krefft 1985 arcy-, from árkys (Gr. ἄρκυς), net; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to net-like appearance of dark scale pockets against a light-brown background

Bajacalifornia burragei Townsend & Nichols 1925 in honor of Guy Hamilton H. Burrage (1867–1954), United States Navy, Commander of the Albatross, from which holotype was collected

Bajacalifornia calcarata (Weber 1913) Latin for armed with a spur, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its somewhat pointed scales

Bajacalifornia megalops (Lütken 1898) mégas (Gr. μέγας), big; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, captured with a “great number” of Cyclothone microdon (Gonostomatidae), “habitually looking much like the said species, but differing by the eyes not being particularly small”

Bajacalifornia microstoma Sazonov 1988 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, referring to its most characteristic feature

Bathylaco Goode & Bean 1896 “a warrior of the ocean depths” (per the authors), from bathýs (Gr. βαθύς), deep, and Lakonia, a province in ancient Greece famous for its Laconians who, in addition to their laconic speech, were also notorious warriors; allusion not explained, perhaps referring to predatory habits as inferred by its very large mouth

Bathylaco macrophthalmus Nielsen & Larsen 1968  big-eyed, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its larger eyes compared with B. nigricans

Bathylaco nielseni Sazonov & Ivanov 198 0in honor of Danish ichthyologist Jørgen G. Nielsen (b. 1932), Zoological Museum of Copenaghen, who recognized this form as separable from B. nigricans in 1970

Bathylaco nigricans Goode & Bean 1896 Latin for blackish, referring to its color

Bathyprion Marshall 1966 bathýs (Gr. βαθύς), deep, referring to its deep-sea habitat; príōn (Gr. πρίων), saw, allusion not explained, possibly referring to its relatively long, pointed teeth on upper jaw, “more suited for gripping than stabbing”

Bathyprion danae Marshall 1966 in honor of the Danish fishery research vessel Dana, from which holotype was collected in 1929

Bathytroctes Günther 1878 bathýs (Gr. βαθύς), deep, referring to habitat of B. microlepis, captured at 3932 m; trṓktēs (Gr. τρώκτης), gnawer, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to mouth and jaws “armed with a series of minute teeth”

Bathytroctes breviceps Sazonov 1999 brevis (L.), short; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to lowest relative length of head among species previously included in Nomoctes (a junior synonym originally proposed as a subgenus)

Bathytroctes elegans Sazonov & Ivanov 1979 Latin for fine or well proportioned, referring to “small size bodies of adult fish and smaller values of some head and body proportions” compared with congeners

Bathytroctes inspector Garman 1899 Latin for observer, allusion not explained, possibly referring to its “very large” eyes

Bathytroctes macrognathus Sazonov 1999 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw, referring to longer jaw compared with species previously included in Nomoctes (a junior synonym originally proposed as a subgenus)

Bathytroctes macrolepis Günther 1887 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to larger scales (42 along lateral line) compared with B. microlepis (~70 along lateral line)

Bathytroctes michaelsarsi Koefoed 1927 in honor of the Michael Sars, Norwegian research vessel from which holotype was collected, in turn named after Norwegian theologian and biologist Michael Sars (1805–1869)

Bathytroctes microlepis Günther 1878 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, presumably referring to ~70 scales along lateral line

Bathytroctes oligolepis (Krefft 1970) olígos (Gr. ὀλίγος), few; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to lower number of scale rows compared with congeners known at the time and/or smaller number of lateral-line scales compared with B. zugmayeri, its presumed closest congener

Bathytroctes pappenheimi (Fowler 1934) in honor of German ichthyologist Paul Pappenheim (1878–1945), curator of fishes, Königliche Zoologische Museum (Berlin), and “investigator of the deep-sea fishes obtained by the German South Polar Expedition, 1914”

Bathytroctes squamosus Alcock 1890 squama (L.), scale; –osus, L. suffix connoting fullness, referring to large deciduous scales, “except on the lateral line, where they are adherent and also perforated or bifid”

Bathytroctes zugmayeri Fowler 1934 in honor of Austrian explorer, herpetologist and ichthyologist Erich Zugmayer (1879–1938), Bavarian State Zoological Collection (Munich), for his “excellent work on the fishes obtained by the ‘Princesse-Alice’ 1901-1910”

Conocara Goode & Bean 1896 conus, from kṓnos (Gr. κῶνος), cone; cara, from kára (Gr. κάρα), head, referring to “obtuse point” of head of C. mcdonaldi (=macropterum)

Conocara bertelseni Sazonov 2002 in honor of Erik Bertelsen (1912–1993), an “outstanding” Danish ichthyologist who participated in expedition during which holotype was collected

Conocara fiolenti Sazonov & Ivanov 1979 in honor of the research vessel Fiolent, from which holotype was collected

Conocara kreffti Sazonov 1997 in memory of Gerhard Krefft (1912–1993), Institut für Seefischerei (Hamburg), “distinguished” German ichthyologist, who contributed “significantly” to the study of alepocephalids of the Atlantic Ocean

Conocara macropterum (Vaillant 1888) large-finned, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large, and pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), fin, referring to long anal fin, which begins near anus and ends behind dorsal fin

Conocara microlepis (Lloyd 1909) micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to “very small and nearly circular” scales

Conocara murrayi (Koefoed 1927) in honor of Canadian-born British oceanographer John Murray (1841–1914, later called the founder of modern oceanography), who financed expedition during which holotype was collected [see Asquamiceps hjorti]

Conocara nigrum (Günther 1878) neuter of niger (L.), black, referring to its color

Conocara paxtoni Sazonov, Williams & Kobyliansky 2009 in honor of American-born Australian ichthyologist John R. Paxton (1938–2023), Australian Museum (Sydney), for his “large” contribution to the study of the deepwater fauna of the World Ocean

Conocara salmoneum (Gill & Townsend 1897) Latin for salmon-like, presumably a color term, i.e., strong orange-pink, as the flesh of a trout or salmon, allusion not explained (body and fins are dark brown with a nearly black head)

Conocara werneri Nybelin 1946 in honor of Directeur G. Werner, “donor of a projected Swedish Expedition to explore the ocean depth” (translation; no other information available)

Einara Parr 1951 [i]a– (L. suffix), belonging to: etymology not explained, probably in honor of Norwegian marine biologist Einar Koefoed (1875–1963), who described E. macrolepis in 1927

Einara edentula (Alcock 1892) Latin for toothless, although it is described as having minute teeth in the premaxillas and mandibles, and “a few inconspicuous and deciduous teeth on the prominent edges of the palatines only”

Einara macrolepis (Koefoed 1927) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to large hexagonal scales on sides, 5-7 mm long and 4-5 mm high

Herwigia Nielsen 1972 –ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Walther Herwig, German research vessel from which holotype of H. kreffti was collected (ship is named for a Prussian lawyer and pioneer of German fisheries science who lived 1838–1912)

Herwigia kreffti (Nielsen & Larsen 1970) in honor of German ichthyologist-herpetologist Gerhard Krefft (1912–1993), Institut für Seefischerei (Hamburg), who allowed the authors to borrow the type material

Leptochilichthys Garman 1899 leptós (Gr. λεπτός ), thin or slender, and cheí̄los (Gr. χεῖλος), lip, presumably referring to thin maxillary (“compressed and bladelike nearly its entire length”) and intermaxillary (“bladelike and sharp edged at the mouth”) of L. agassizii; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Leptochilichthys agassizii Garman 1899 in honor of Swiss-born American mining magnate and zoologist Alexander Agassiz (1835–1910), Curator, Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard), for his “particular interest in these fishes” (i.e., alepocephalids)

Leptochilichthys microlepis Machida & Shiogaki 1988 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to smaller, more numerous lateral-line scales compared with congeners

Leptochilichthys pinguis (Vaillant 1886) Latin for fat, referring to adipose fold or cushion running along dorsal surface in front of posteriorly placed dorsal fin

Leptoderma Vaillant 1886 leptós (Gr. λεπτός ), thin or slender (i.e., delicate); dérma (Gr. δέρμα), skin, referring to oily, scaleless skin covering head and body

Leptoderma affine Alcock 1899 Latin for related, referring to close similarity to L. macrops, which Alcock suggested may be conspecific

Leptoderma lubricum Abe, Marumo & Kawaguchi 1965 Latin for slippery, presumably referring to oily, scaleless skin covering head and body

Leptoderma macrophthalmum Byrkjedal, Poulsen & Galbraith 2011 big-eyed, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to larger eyes compared with L. lubricum

Leptoderma macrops Vaillant 1886 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, referring to large eyes on small head

Leptoderma ospesca Angulo, Baldwin & Robertson 2016 named for OSPESCA (Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acúicola de Centroamerica), for sponsoring the research cruises that led to the discovery of deepwater marine fishes in Central America, including this one

Leptoderma retropinna Fowler 1943 retro– (L.), back or backward; pinna (L.), fin, referring to posterior placement of dorsal fin

Microphotolepis Sazonov & Parin 1977 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; phōtō- (Gr. φωτω-), combining form of phṓs (φῶς), light; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to numerous small photophores on every scale pocket on trunk of M. schmidti

Microphotolepis schmidti (Angel & Verrier 1931) in honor of Danish biologist Johannes Schmidt (1877–1933), who led expedition during which holotype was collected, and which he shared with the authors

Mirognathus Parr 1951 mirus (L.), wonderful or amazing; gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw, presumably referring to prominent lower jaw, which has a symphyseal knob that continues profile of snout downward and forward

Mirognathus normani Parr 1951 patronym not identified but clearly in honor of English ichthyologist J. R. (John Roxborough) Norman (1898–1944), who worked at the British Museum (Natural History), where holotype is housed

Narcetes Alcock 1890 Latinized from nárkē (Gr. νάρκη), numbness, i.e., one who numbs, referring to how type specimens, when brought on board from 1353 m, were in a “cataleptoid state, the whole muscular system being quite rigid, and cutaneous excitation eliciting no responsive movement”

Narcetes erimelas Alcock 1890 eri– (Gr. ἐρι), much or very; mélas (Gr. μέλας), black, referring to its “deep black” coloration

Narcetes garmani Fowler 1934 in honor of American ichthyologist-herpetologist Samuel Garman (1843‒1927), Harvard University, for his work on the bathypelagic fishes of the Gulf of Panama

Narcetes kamoharai Okamura 1984 in honor of the late Toshiji Kamohara (1901–1972), ichthyologist, Kochi University (Kochi, Japan)

Narcetes lloydi Fowler 1934 in honor of surgeon-naturalist Richard E. Lloyd (1875–1935), Marine Survey of India, a Major in the Indian Medical Service, a professor of biology at Calcutta University, and a “student of deep-sea fishes caught by the ‘Investigator,’ 1909”

Narcetes shonanmaruae Poulsen, Ida, Kawato & Fujiwara 2021 of the ship Shonan maru, from which type materials were caught, honoring its “considerable” contribution to deep-sea fish research in the area of Suruga Bay, Japan

Narcetes stomias (Gilbert 1890) stomías (Gr. στομίας), a hard-mouthed horse but often used for any large-mouthed animal, referring to its “very large” mouth, the front of eye being over middle of upper jaw

Narcetes wonderi Herre 1935 in honor of taxidermist Frank C. Wonder (1904–1963), Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago), an “efficient collector of mammals and fishes”

Photostylus Beebe 1933 phōtō- (Gr. φωτω-), combining form of phṓs (φῶς), light; stylus, from stū́los (Gr. στῦλος), column or pillar, referring to irregular scattering of photophores on head and body, “elevated on stalks”

Photostylus pycnopterus Beebe 1933 thick-finned, from pyknós (Gr. πυκνός), close, compact or dense, and pterus, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), fin, referring to “thick, fleshy, median fold or adipose fin” along the back

Rinoctes Parr 1952 derived from rhís (Gr. ῥίς), nose, referring to hard, beak-like, pointed snout

Rinoctes nasutus (Koefoed 1927) Latin for large-nosed, referring to its hard, beak-like and pointed snout

Rouleina Jordan 1923 –ina (L.), belonging to: French zoologist Louis Roule (1861–1942), who redefined this genus as Aleposomus Gill 1884 in 1915 but excluded Gill’s type species, thereby creating a junior homonym

Rouleina attrita (Vaillant 1888) Latin for bruised or worn away, presumably referring to mutilated and decomposed state of type specimens

Rouleina danae Parr 1951 in honor of the Danish fishery research vessel Dana, from which holotype was collected in 1929

Rouleina eucla Whitley 1940 named for type locality, off Eucla, Western Australia

Rouleina euryops Sazonov 1999 eurýs (Gr. εὐρύς), wide or broad; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, referring to its large eyes, the orbit diameter exceeding 30% of the head length

Rouleina guentheri (Alcock 1892) in honor of German-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist Albert Günther (1830–1914), who proposed Xenodermichthys, genus at time of description, in 1878

Rouleina livida (Brauer 1906) Latin for bluish or black and blue, referring to blue-black and violet-hued coloration

Rouleina maderensis Maul 1948 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: off Madeira in the eastern Atlantic, type locality

Rouleina nuda (Brauer 1906) Latin for bare or naked, referring to scaleless body and inconspicuous lateral line without scales (compared to underlying scales in R. livida)

Rouleina squamilatera (Alcock 1898) squama (L.), scale; latera, plural of latus (L.), side, referring to the lateral line, a “salient tube which runs straight down the middle of the body and is stiffened by thin subcutaneous equidistant scales”

Rouleina watasei (Tanaka 1909) in honor of biologist Shozaburo Watasé (1862–1929), Imperial University of Tokyo

Talismania Goode & Bean 1896 –ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Talisman, one of two French vessels employed in deep-sea exploration (the other was Travailleur), from which multiple specimens of Talismania and Bathytroctes were collected

Talismania antillarum (Goode & Bean 1896) –arum (L.), commemorative suffix, plural: of the Antilles, referring to type locality in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida

Talismania aphos (Bussing 1965) á– (Gr. ἄ), without; phṓs (φῶς), light, referring to absence of luminous organs

Talismania bifurcata (Parr 1951) bi-, from bis (L.), twice; furcata (L.), pronged or forked, allusion not explained, probably referring to its deeply forked caudal fin

Talismania brachycephala Sazonov 1981 short-headed, from brachýs (Gr. βραχύς), short, and  kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to its shorter head compared with other closely related forms

Talismania bussingi Sazonov 1989 in honor of American ichthyologist William Bussing (1933–2014), Universidad de Costa Rica, who first collected this species in the southeastern Pacific and reported it as Binghamichthys microphos (=T. antillarum)

Talismania filamentosa Okamura & Kawanishi 1984 Latin for filamentous, referring to long, filamentous pectoral-fin ray

Talismania homoptera (Vaillant 1888) homós (Gr. ὁμός), same; ptera, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or pterýx (πτέρυξ), finned, referring to nearly equal length and equal relative positions of dorsal and anal fins

Talismania kotlyari Sazonov & Ivanov 1980 in honor of ichthyologist Alexander Kotlyar (b. 1950), P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, who collected five specimens of the type series

Talismania longifilis (Brauer 1902) longus (L.), long; filum (L.), thread, referring to greatly elongated upper ray of pectoral fin

Talismania mekistonema Sulak 1975 mḗkistos (Gr. μήκιστος), tallest or longest; nḗma (Gr. νῆμα), thread, referring to greatly elongated upper ray of pectoral fin

Talismania okinawensis Okamura & Kawanishi 1984 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Okinawa Trough, East China Sea, type locality

Xenodermichthys Günther 1878 xénos (Gr. ξένος), strange or foreign (i.e., different), and dérma (Gr. δέρμα), skin, referring to “rather tough” skin, of X. nodulosus, “finely longitudinally wrinkled, with numerous nodules, regularly arranged”; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Xenodermichthys copei (Gill 1884) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of American zoologist-paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope (1840–1897)

Xenodermichthys nodulosus Günther 1878 Latin for having small nodes or knots, referring to its “rather tough” skin, “finely longitudinally wrinkled, with numerous nodules, regularly arranged”