Leiognathidae

Leiognathidae, the ponyfishes, slipmouths or slimys / slimies, are a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes.^[4] They inhabit marine and brackish waters in the Indian and West Pacific Oceans. They can be used in the preparation of bagoong.

Leiognathidae Temporal range: 56–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Eocene to Present[1]
Eubleekeria splendens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acanthuriformes
Family:	Leiognathidae T. N. Gill, 1893[2]
Type species
Leiognathus argenteus Lacépède, 1802[3]
Genera
see text

Characteristics

Ponyfishes are small and laterally compressed in shape, with a bland, silvery colouration. They are distinguished by highly extensible mouths, and the presence of a mechanism for locking the spines in the dorsal and anal fins. They also possess a highly integrated light organ in their throats that houses symbiotic bioluminescent bacteria that project light through the animal's underside.^[5][6][7] Typically, the harbored bacterium is only Photobacterium leiognathi, but in the two ponyfish species Photopectoralis panayensis and Photopectoralis bindus, Photobacterium mandapamensis is also present.^[8] Two of the most widely studied uses for luminescence in ponyfish are camouflage by ventral counterillumination^[9][10] and species-specific sexual dimorphism.^{[6][7][11][12]} The light organ systems of ponyfishes are highly variable across species and often between sexes.^[11][12]

Taxonomy

Leiognathidae is classified within the suborder Percoidei by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World, but they are placed in an unnamed clade which sits outside the superfamily Percoidea. This clade contains 7 families which appear to have some relationship to Acanthuroidei, Monodactylidae, and Priacanthidae.^[13] Other authorities have placed the family in the order Chaetodontiformes alongside the family Chaetodontidae.^[14]

Timeline of genera

Genera

The following genera are classified within the Leiognathidae:^[4][3]

• Aurigequula Fowler, 1918
• Deveximentum Fowler, 1904 (previously as replacement name Secutor Gistel, 1848)
• Equulites Fowler, 1904
• Eubleekeria Fowler, 1904
• Gazza Rüppell, 1835
• Karalla Chakrabarty & Sparks, 2008
• Leiognathus Lacepède, 1802
• Nuchequula Whitley, 1932
• Photolateralis Sparks & Chakrabarty, 2015^[15]
• Photopectoralis Sparks, Dunlap & Smith, 2005

The following fossil genera are also known:

• †Eoleiognathus Bannikov, 2014 (Early Eocene of Italy)^[16]
• †Euleiognathus Yabumoto & Uyeno, 2011 (Middle Miocene of Japan)^[17]
• †Leiognathoides Bannikov, 2001 (Early Oligocene to Early Miocene of Switzerland, Azerbaijan and North Caucasus, Russia)^[18]