Medusafishes are a family, Centrolophidae, of scombriform ray-finned fishes. The family includes about 31 species. They are found in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world.

Medusafish
Temporal range: Middle Paleocene to present
Rudderfish (Centrolophus niger)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Clade: Percomorpha
Order: Scombriformes
Suborder: Stromateoidei
Family: Centrolophidae
Bonaparte, 1846[1]
Genera

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Young Icichthys lockingtoni specimens are abundant in the coastal waters of the north Pacific, where they are often found in association with jellyfish, which provide them with protection from predators and opportunities to scavenge the remains of the jellyfishes' meals.

The oldest known fossil member of the group known from articulated remains is Butyrumichthys from the earliest Ypresian of the Fur Formation in Denmark.[2] Slightly older fossil otoliths of the species "Mupus" sinuosus are also known from the Selandian of Denmark.[3]

Genera

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The following genera are classified within the family Centrolophidae:[4]

The following fossil genera are also known:

The placements of Butyrumichthys, Petrodavia, and Agarcia are tentative.[2][5]

Timeline of genera

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QuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneHyperoglypheMupusQuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.Plio.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleocene

[8]

 
Medusafish, Icichthys lockingtoni
 
Cornish blackfish, Schedophilus medusophagus

References

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  1. ^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230.
  2. ^ a b c Schrøder, Ane Elise; Rasmussen, Jan Audun; Møller, Peter Rask; Carnevale, Giorgio (2022-09-30). "Butyrumichthys henricii gen. et sp. nov.: a new stromateiform fish from the lower Eocene Fur Formation, Denmark". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 42 (3) e2171798. Bibcode:2022JVPal..42E1798S. doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2171798. ISSN 0272-4634.
  3. ^ Schwarzhans, Werner (2003-09-08). "Fish otoliths from the Paleocene of Denmark". GEUS Bulletin. 2: 1–96. doi:10.34194/geusb.v2.4696. ISSN 2597-2154.
  4. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Centrolophidae". FishBase. December 2019 version.
  5. ^ a b c Baciu, Dorin Sorin; Bannikov, Alexandre F. (2004). "New stromateoid fishes (Perciformes, Stromateoidei) from the Lower Oligocene of Romania". Journal of Ichthyology. 44 (3): 199–207.
  6. ^ Calzoni, Pietro; Giusberti, Luca; Carnevale, Giorgio (2025-07-29). "THE YPRESIAN FISHES OF THE SOLTERI LAGERSTÄTTE (TRENTO, NORTHERN ITALY): A GLIMPSE INTO THE EARLY EOCENE TETHYAN MESOPELAGIC ASSEMBLAGES". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 131 (2): 28705. Bibcode:2025RIPS..13128705C. doi:10.54103/2039-4942/28705. ISSN 2039-4942.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  7. ^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  8. ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-19.