One group of fishes observed, not exactly swimming, among the mangroves are the batfishes.
Batfish are in the family Ogcocephalidae which contains lots of bottom dwelling, and bottom crawling fishes. They are in the same order, Lophiiformes, as the anglerfishes and the Frogfishes. Altogether, a very odd looking group of fishes. Some Lophiiform species are observed in the deep-sea.
These red lipped, odd shaped buggers with ‘feet”, roam the sediment around mangroves searching for worms and other invertebrates. It’s ‘feet’ are of course modified fins (both pectoral and pelvic).
In 1980 ten species were recognized as being within the Western Atlantic. Among the species are the Shortnose Batfish, Ogcocephalus nasutus (Cuvier, 1829) and the Marked (or Oval) Batfish, Ogcocephalus notatus (Valenciennes, 1837) and The Brazilian Batfish, Ogcocephalus vespertilio (Linnaeus, 1758).
These Batfish range into semi-deep waters (hundreds of meters) but are observed in the shallows of the Caribbean, Central America, and extending down the South American coast beyond Brazil. The Marked and Brazilian Batfish are generally found further south into S. American waters while the Shortnose is generally further north, to Florida. The Shortnose species appears much more common in general. In Belize, where the picture below was taken, the Shortnose is the most common.
For Western Atlantic species we have:
Ogcocephalus corniger Bradbury, 1980
Ogcocephalus declivirostris Bradbury, 1980
Ogcocephalus pumilus Bradbury, 1980
Ogcocephalus rostellum Bradbury, 1980
The Queen of Batfish was obviously Bradbury** (She died in 2010).
Let me point out a few things that I find striking. First, several, relatively slow, odd-looking fish, were described, not that long ago, from an area of the world visiting by millions every year. Take-home message, there is lots out there that we still don’t know. AND second, if you go to Wikipedia to look up information on these fishes, most have nothing written about them at all. Nothing. We have lots still to do folks—get busy. Get out there and explore. I’ll wait here by the TV.
Oops I missed one that she described, the Spotted Batfish, Ogcocephalus pantostictus Bradbury, 1980. She is definitely the Batfish Queen.
And another thing. It’s anatomy, WTF?
The Oval Batfish (AKA Marked) has oval pupils—is this where the name Oval Batfish comes from? Do other fishes have oval pupils? What about the other aspects of their anatomy? How do these fishes cram the organs into that weird body? This would be a cool fish to dissect, but I’d be worried that we know so little about them that I’d end up killing a species near extinction :-(
Notes:
*Achille Valenciennes (9 August 1794 – 13 April 1865) was a French zoologist.
He was given the task of classifying animals described by Alexander von Humboldt (see the recent book about Humboldt by Andrea Wulf, it’s amazing). He is the naming authority for many species of fish, such as the Bartail Jawfish. The organ of Valenciennes, part of the anatomy of a females in the genus Nautilus, the purpose of which remains unknown, is named after him.
** Margaret G. Bradbury was a scientific illustrator at the Chicago Museum of Natural History before moving to California to pursue her PhD. She was a professor at San Francisco State University for many years and also took part in Stanford’s oceanographic classroom cruises.
More notes; The Pinnate Spadefish, AKA called the Dusky Batfish, Platax pinnatus, sometimes kept in saltwater aquaria by hobbyist, is not very closely related. It’s not in the same family or even the same order. They are both members of the Teleostei though—that is, they are bony fishes and share this distinction with only about 23,000 other species. ;-)
Let me add to the confusion. There is also a ray called a batfish, or more usually the Bat Ray, Myliobatis californicus. This is a type of eagle ray and probably should be referred to by one of its other names; how about California Bat Ray? Or should we keep the ‘bat’ word out of it altogether? OR, maybe we need to call these rays Bat Rays and change the name of the other batfish—“Walking Fish” ?
Sources and Readings:
Bradbury MG. 1980. A revision of the fish genus Ogcocephalus with descriptions of a new species from the Western Atlantic Ocean (Ogcocephalidae; Lophiiformes). Proceeding of the California Academy of Sciences 42: 229-285.
Wulf, A. 2015. The invention of nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World. Alfred A. Knopf.