Halieutaea is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the familyOgcocephalidae, the deep sea batfishes. These fishes are found in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.
Halieutaea is Greek for "angler" or "fishermam", a reference to the habit of these fishes of resting on the bottom and using their lures to attract prey towards them.[5]
Species
Halieutaea contains the following valid species:[6][2]
The genus is in need of a taxonomic review as there are believed to be some undescribed species and some of the currently recognised species may be synonyms.[7]
Characteristics
Halieutaea seabats have a flattened disc like head which has a clearly rounded outline. The esca has a tongue-shaped upper lobe and two nearly joined lower lobes with cirri on the lower edge. There is a black tongue-like
appendage at the base of the illicium. The snout does not overhang the mouth by too much. The teeth in the tongue are either arranged in paddle shaped patches which are set apart from each other or in a single oval patch. There are no teeth on the roof of the mouth. The scales are tubercles and of various sizes, the spaces between the scales are naked or covered in spinules.[7] These fishes vary in size between a maximum published total length of 10.2 cm (4.0 in) for H. retifera to 30 cm (12 in) for H. fitzsimonsi and H. stellata.[6]
Distribution and habitat
Halieutaea seabats are found in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans from the eastern coast of Africa east to French Polynesia, north to Japan and south to Australia and northern New Zealand.[2] These bathydemersal fishes are found at depths between 20 and 494 m (66 and 1,621 ft).[8]
