Waryfishes are deep-sea aulopiform fishes in the small family Notosudidae. They are thought to have a circumglobal distribution in sub-Arctic to subantarctic

Subantarctic

The Subantarctic is a region in the southern hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° – 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands in the southern parts of the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and...

 waters. The family name "Notosudidae" derives from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 noton (back) and Latin sudis (a fish, esox, the name of salmon).

Description

Waryfishes are slender, scaled, fish, similar in appearance to lancetfish

Lancetfish

Lancetfishes are large oceanic predatory fishes in the genus Alepisaurus , the only living genus in the family Alepisauridae....

es, but lacking the greatly enlarged dorsal fin. Although the adults are deep water fish, the larvae inhabit surface waters, and are unique in having teeth on the upper jaws. Waryfishes lack a swim bladder.

• Dorsal fin
  Dorsal fin
  A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
  
  : 9-14 rays
• Anal fin: 16-21 rays
• Pectoral fin: 10-15 rays.
• Scale
  Scale (zoology)
  In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
  
  s in lateral line
  Lateral line
  The lateral line is a sense organ in aquatic organisms , used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail...
  
  : 44-65.

Species

There are 17 species, grouped into three genera:

• Genus Ahliesaurus
  • Ahliesaurus berryi Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Ahliesaurus brevis Krefft & Marshall, 1976
• Genus Luciosudis
  • Luciosudis normani Fraser-Brunner, 1931
• Genus Scopelosaurus
  • Scopelosaurus adleri Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus ahlstromi
    Scopelosaurus ahlstromi
    Scopelosaurus ahlstromi is a waryfish of the family Notosudidae, found in all oceans, at depths of down to 500 m. Its length is between 15 and 25 cm.-References:...
    
    Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus argenteus Maul, 1954
  • Scopelosaurus craddocki Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus gibbsi Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus hamiltoni Waite, 1916
  • Scopelosaurus harryi Mead, 1953
  • Scopelosaurus herwigi Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus hoedti Bleeker, 1860
  • Scopelosaurus hubbsi Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus lepidus Krefft & Maul, 1955
  • Scopelosaurus mauli Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus meadi Bertelsen, Krefft & Marshall, 1976
  • Scopelosaurus smithii Bean, 1925