Ipnopidae is a family of fishes in the order Aulopiformes

Aulopiformes

Aulopiformes is an order of marine ray-finned fish consisting of some 15 extant and several prehistoric families with about 45 genera and over 230 species. The common names grinners, lizardfishes and allies or aulopiforms are sometimes used for this group...

. They are small slender fishes, with maximum length ranging from about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) to about 40 centimetres (15.7 in). They are found in temperate and tropical deep waters of the Atlantic, Indian

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 and Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

s.

A number of species, especially in the genus Bathypterois have elongated pectoral and pelvic fins. In the case of the tripod fish

Tripod fish

Tripod fish, Bathypterois grallator, are a deep-sea benthic fish found at lower latitudes. They are now relatively well known from photographs and submersible observations...

, Bathypterois grallator, these fins are three times as long as the body — up to a metre in length — and are used for standing on the sea floor. Ipnopids either have tiny eyes, or very large eyes that lack any lens; in either case they have very poor vision and are unable to form an image.

Species

There are thirty species in five genera:

• Genus Bathymicrops
  • Bathymicrops belyaninae Nielsen & Merrett, 1992.
  • Bathymicrops brevianalis Nielsen, 1966.
  • Bathymicrops multispinis Nielsen & Merrett, 1992.
  • Bathymicrops regis Hjort & Koefoed, 1912.
• Genus Bathypterois
  • Bathypterois andriashevi Sulak & Shcherbachev, 1988.
  • Attenuated spider fish, Bathypterois atricolor Alcock
    Alfred William Alcock
    Alfred William Alcock was a British physician naturalist and carcinologist.Alcock was the son of a sea-captain, John Alcock in Bombay, India who retired to live in Blackheath...
    
    , 1896.
  • Bathypterois bigelowi Mead, 1958.
  • Bathypterois dubius Vaillant
    Léon Vaillant
    Léon Louis Vaillant was a French zoologist. He is most famous for his work in the areas of herpetology, malacology, and ichthyology...
    
    , 1888.
  • Bathypterois filiferus Gilchrist, 1906.
  • Tripod fish
    Tripod fish
    Tripod fish, Bathypterois grallator, are a deep-sea benthic fish found at lower latitudes. They are now relatively well known from photographs and submersible observations...
    
    , Bathypterois grallator (Goode
    George Brown Goode
    George Brown Goode , was an ichthyologist, although most of his time was spent as a museum administrator and he was very interested in the history of science, especially the history of the development of science in America. Goode graduated from Wesleyan University and studied at Harvard University...
    
     & Bean
    Tarleton Hoffman Bean
    Tarleton Hoffman Bean was an American ichthyologist, born at Bainbridge, Pennsylvania on 8 October 1846. He died in Albany, New York on 28 December 1916.-FAMILY AND EDUCATION :...
    
    , 1886).
    
  • Bathypterois guentheri Alcock
    Alfred William Alcock
    Alfred William Alcock was a British physician naturalist and carcinologist.Alcock was the son of a sea-captain, John Alcock in Bombay, India who retired to live in Blackheath...
    
    , 1889.
  • Bathypterois insularum Alcock
    Alfred William Alcock
    Alfred William Alcock was a British physician naturalist and carcinologist.Alcock was the son of a sea-captain, John Alcock in Bombay, India who retired to live in Blackheath...
    
    , 1892.
  • Bathypterois longicauda Günther, 1878.
  • Feeler fish
    Feeler fish
    The feeler fish, Bathypterois longifilis, a grinner of the family Ipnopidae, is found around Australia and New Zealand.-References:* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, ISBN 0-00-216987-8...
    
    , Bathypterois longifilis Günther, 1878.
  • Abyssal spiderfish
    Abyssal spiderfish
    The abyssal spiderfish, Bathypterois longipes, is a species of deepsea tripod fish, a demersal fish living on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, even on the abyssal plain. It is one of the deepest-dwelling fish known....
    
    , Bathypterois longipes Günther, 1878.
    
  • Bathypterois oddi Sulak, 1977.
  • Bathypterois parini Shcherbachev & Sulak, 1988.
  • Bathypterois pectinatus Mead, 1959.
  • Bathypterois perceptor Sulak, 1977.
  • Blackfin spiderfish, Bathypterois phenax Parr, 1928.
  • Bathypterois quadrifilis Günther, 1878.
    
  • Bathypterois ventralis Garman, 1899.
  • Bathypterois viridensis (Roule, 1916).
• Genus Bathysauropsis
  • Black lizardfish
    Black lizardfish
    The black lizardfish or deep-water greeneye, Bathysauropsis gracilis, is a grinner of the genus Bathysauropsis, found around the world in the southern oceans, at depths of between 1,500 and 3,000 m...
    
    , Bathysauropsis gracilis (Günther, 1878).
  • Bathysauropsis malayanus (Fowler, 1938).
• Genus Bathytyphlops
  • Bathytyphlops marionae Mead, 1958.
  • Bathytyphlops sewelli (Norman, 1939).
• Genus Ipnops
  Ipnops
  Ipnops is a genus of deep-sea fish in the family Ipnopidae, which also includes the better-known tripod fish. Ipnops are small, slender fish that live close to the ocean floor in the bathyal and abyssal zones. The genus is notable for its unusual eyes....
  
  
  • Grideye fish, Ipnops agassizii Garman, 1899.
  • Ipnops meadi Nielsen, 1966.
  • Ipnops murrayi Günther, 1878.