Coryphaenoides Gunnerus, 1874

Iwamoto, Tomio, Nakayama, Naohide, Shao, Kwang-Tsao & Table, Hsuan-Ching Ho, 2015, Synopsis of the Grenadier Fishes (Gadiformes; Teleostei) of Taiwan, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 62 (3), pp. 31-126 : 69

Genus Coryphaenoides Gunnerus, 1874

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES.— BR 6. Spinous second ray of 1D serrated along leading edge. Anus usually immediately before anal fin. No light organ.

REMARKS.— Coryphaenoides is the second largest genus of Macrouridae , with more than 60 species currently recognized, only four of which are so far known from Taiwan. Six or seven subgenera continue to be recognized, some as full genera, but the circumscription of each of these has not been based on adequate phylogenetic analyses, although some attempts have been made using very limited numbers of species (e.g., Wilson et al. 1991; Wilson 1994), Wilson and Attia (2003) using DNA sequencing, peptide mapping of lactate dehydrogenase, and protein electrophoresis; and Rao-Varón and Ortí (2009) using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Most of the species appear to have their primary depth range in mid-continental-slope depths, but many occur at lower-slope depths; a few are primarily found on the continental rise at depths of 2000–4000 m, and the deepest-living grenadier, C. yaquinae Iwamoto and Stein, 1974 , has been captured in abyssal depths below 6000 m. That species and C. armatus (Hector, 1874) can be expected in Taiwan waters deeper than about 4000 m, and other Coryphaenoides species are likely to be found when depths greater than 2000 m are more thoroughly sampled. As might be expected from fishes of great depths, many of the species are known from widely separated areas throughout the world oceans. A few of the larger members of this genus are of some commercial importance. The Roundnose grenadier ( C. rupestris ) of the North Atlantic has long been targeted by commercial fishermen and some stocks have become severely depleted. The Pacific grenadier ( Coryphaenoides acrolepis ) is the target of a very limited fishery off northern California.