Gempylidae

The Gempylidae are a family of scombriform ray-finned fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species.

Gempylidae Temporal range: Early Eocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Snake Mackerel, Gempylus serpens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Scombriformes
Suborder:	Scombroidei
Family:	Gempylidae T. N. Gill, 1862
Genera[1]
Diplospinus Epinnula Gempylus Leionura Lepidocybium Nealotus Neoepinnula Nesiarchus Paradiplospinus Promethichthys Rexea Rexichthys Ruvettus Thyrsites Thyrsitoides Tongaichthys

They are elongated fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or finlets trailing it. The largest species, including the snoek (Leionura atun), grow up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long, and the oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus) can reach 3 m (9.8 ft), though they rarely surpass 150 cm (59 in). Like the barracudas, they are predators, with fang-like teeth.^[2]

Taxonomy

• Subfamily Clade 1 Mthethwa, 2023
  • Genus Diplospinus
    • Diplospinus multistriatus Maul, 1948 (Striped escolar)
  • Genus Gempylus
    • Gempylus serpens G. Cuvier, 1829 (Snake mackerel)
  • Genus Nealotus
    • Nealotus tripes J. Y. Johnson, 1865 (Black Snake mackerel)
  • Genus Nesiarchus
    • Nesiarchus nasutus J. Y. Johnson, 1862 (Black gemfish)
  • Genus Paradiplospinus
    • Paradiplospinus antarcticus Andriashev, 1960 (Antarctic escolar)
    • Paradiplospinus gracilis (A. B. Brauer, 1906) (Slender escolar)
  • Genus Promethichthys
    • Promethichthys prometheus (G. Cuvier, 1832) (Roudi escolar)
  • Genus Rexea
    • Rexea alisae C. D. Roberts & A. L. Stewart, 1997
    • Rexea antefurcata Parin, 1989 (Long-finned escolar)
    • Rexea bengalensis (Alcock, 1894) (Bengal escolar)
    • Rexea brevilineata Parin, 1989 (Short-lined escolar)
    • Rexea nakamurai Parin, 1989 (Nakamura's escolar)
    • Rexea prometheoides (Bleeker, 1856) (Royal escolar)
    • Rexea solandri (G. Cuvier, 1832) (Silver gemfish)
  • Genus Rexichthys
    • Rexichthys johnpaxtoni Parin & Astakhov, 1987 (Paxton’s escolar)
  • Genus Leionura
    • Leionura atun (Euphrasén, 1791) (Snoek)
  • Genus Thyrsites
    • Thyrsites lepidopodea (Lesson, 1831) (White snake mackerel))
  • Genus Thyrsitoides
    • Thyrsitoides marleyi Fowler, 1929 (Blacksail snake mackerel)
    • †Thyrsitoides zarahoustrae Arambourg, 1967^[3]
  • Genus Tongaichthys
    • Tongaichthys robustus I. Nakamura & E. Fujii, 1983 (Tonga escolar)
• Subfamily Clade 2 Mthethwa, 2023
  • Genus Epinnula
    • Epinnula magistralis Poey, 1854
    • Epinnula pacifica Ho, Motomura, Hata & Jiang, 2017
  • Genus Lepidocybium
    • Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (A. Smith, 1843) (Escolar)
  • Genus Neoepinnula
    • Neoepinnula americana (M. G. Grey, 1953) (American sackfish)
    • Neoepinnula minetomai Nakayama, Y. Kimura & Endo, 2014 (Large-eyed sackfish)
    • Neoepinnula orientalis (Gilchrist & von Bonde, 1924) (Sackfish)
  • Genus Ruvettus
    • Ruvettus pretiosus Cocco, 1833 (Oilfish)

The Gempylidae are broadly categorized into two clades; Clade 1, which includes more derived & elongate genera, and Clade 2, which includes more basal & fusiform genera. The Trichiuridae are an outgroup.^[4]

Scombroidei	Trichiuridae Gempylidae Clade 2 Lepidocybium Ruvettus Epinnula Neoepinnula Clade 1 Nesiarchus Gempylus Thyrsitoides Rexea Thyrsites Paradiplospinus Diplospinus Nealotus Promethichthys

Gempylidae are believed to have first evolved at least 20 million years after the Late Cretaceus Extinction event, potentially due to tectonic plate movements.^[4]

Fossil genera

The following fossil genera are known:^[3][5][6]

• †Abadzekhia Bannikov, 1985 (Early Oligocene of North Caucasus, Russia and Germany)
• †Chelifichthys Carnevale, 2006 (Late Miocene (Messinian) of Algeria)
• †Eothyrsites Chapman, 1934 (mid-late Eocene of New Zealand)
• †Hemithyrsites Daniltshenko, 1960 (Oligocene of Poland & Romania)
• †Krampusichthys Calzoni, Giusberti & Carnevale, 2025 (Early Eocene of Italy)
• †Laurinichthys Calzoni, Giusberti & Carnevale, 2025 (Early Eocene of Italy)
• †Progempylus Casier, 1966 (Early Eocene of England)
• †Thyrsitocephalus vom Rath, 1859 (Early Oligocene of Switzerland)
• †Wudelenia Calzoni, Giusberti & Carnevale, 2025 (Early Eocene of Italy)

Timeline

^[4][7]

See also

• Euzaphlegidae, an extinct group of relatives from Paleocene to Late Miocene-aged marine strata of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains,^[8] India, Iran, Turkmenistan, Italy,^[9] and Southern California.^[10]