Linophryne lucifer
Linophryne lucifer, one of the species known as the bearded anglerfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Linophrynidae, the leftvents, a group of deep water anglerfishes. This species, the type of genus Linophryne, is found in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Taxonomy
Linophryne lucefer was first formally described in 1886 by the Norwegian zoologist Robert Collett with its type locality given as off Madeira at approximately 36°N, 20°W, the holotype being found floating on the surface. When Collett described this species he proposed a new monospecific genus, Linophryne, for it, meaning that L. lucifer is the type species of that genus by monotypy. As this species is the type species of its genus is placed in the nominate subgenus of Linophryne. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus within the family Linophrynidae, which it places within the suborder Ceratioidei, the deep sea anglerfishes, within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes.Etymology
Linophryne lucifer is the type species of the genus Linophryne, an name which prefixes linos, which means "net", an allusion Collett did not explain when he proposed the genus, with phryne, meaning "toad". The prefix may be a reference to the sac like mouth hanging off the trunk, which in the holotype contained a lanternfish, like a fisherman's keep net. The second part phryne is commonly used in the names of anglerfish genera. Its use may date as far back as Aristotle and Cicero, who referred to anglerfishes as "fishing-frogs" and "sea-frogs," respectively, possibly because of their resemblance to frogs and toads. The specific name, lucifer, means "light bearer", an allusion to the hyoid barbel, Collett correctly suspected that the barbel is phosphorescent in life, although it is more properly called bioluminescent.The name "forkbarbelthroat" was coined by D. E. McAllister in his 1990 book A List of the Fishes of Canada, being one of many common names he conceived in the book. These common names were subsequently used in the Encyclopedia of Canadian Fishes by Brian W. Coad. In a review of Coad's book, Erling Holm remarked that many of the names coined by Mcallister differed significantly from the standard set by Robins et. al., deemed widely accepted, and promoted by the Committee on Names of Fishes. For the names of deep-sea fish, which are unlikely to have day-to-day use, Holm deemed the names "unnecessarily complex, easily misspelled, or downright silly".