Mordacia

Mordacia is a genus of lamprey, the sole genus of the family Mordaciidae, also known as the southern topeyed lampreys.

Southern topeyed lampreys
Mordacia mordax
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Infraphylum: Agnatha
Class: Hyperoartia
Order: Petromyzontiformes
Family: Mordaciidae
T. N. Gill, 1893
Genus: Mordacia
J. E. Gray, 1851
Type species
Petromyzon mordax
J. Richardson, 1846
Synonyms
  • Caragola Gray 1851 non Moore 1879

The family Mordaciidae is most closely related to the lamprey family Geotriidae, which has a similar Gondwanan distribution, and both families diverged during the Early Cretaceous. Together, their common ancestor diverged from the northern lampreys during the Middle Jurassic.[1]

They are found in Chile and Australia; the Chilean and one Australian species (M. lapicida and M. mordax) are anadromous fish that spawn in Pacific-draining river basins and mature in the ocean, while the other Australian species (M. praecox) spends its whole life in freshwater. Phylogenetic evidence indicates ancient divergences within this genus, with the Chilean and Australian lineages diverging from one another during the Late Cretaceous (100 mya), although both Australian species only diverged from each other during the Pleistocene.[1]

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus:[2]

References

  1. Brownstein, Chase Doran; Near, Thomas J. (2023-01-23). "Phylogenetics and the Cenozoic radiation of lampreys". Current Biology. 33 (2): 397–404.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.018. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 36586410. S2CID 255278945.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). Species of Mordacia in FishBase. April 2013 version.
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