South Georgia spiny plunderfish
Harpagifer georgianus Nybelin, 1947
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Harpagifer georgianus, the South Georgia spiny plunderfish, is a species of ray-finned fish within the family Harpagiferidae, that can grow up to 7 centimeters in length. The species is found in the Southern Ocean off South Georgia and Macquarie Island, at depths up to 90 meters in demersal environments lying motionless. It mainly eats amphipods, but isopods and polychaetes are also consumed.
Wikipedia contributors, Harpagifer georgianus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:04:28.049430+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Harpagifer georgianus Nybelin, 1947
- Name authority
- Nybelin, 1947
- Common name
- South Georgia spiny plunderfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Harpagiferidae
- Genus
- Harpagifer
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderNotothenioidei
- familyHarpagiferidae Gill, 1861
- subfamilyHarpagiferinae Gill, 1861
- genusHarpagifer Richardson, 1844
- speciesHarpagifer georgianus Nybelin, 1947
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Harpagifer. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| deep-water spiny plunderfishHarpagifer spinosus Hureau, Louis, Tomo & Ozouf, 1980 | HarpagiferidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Antarctic spiny plunderfishHarpagifer antarcticus Nybelin, 1947 | HarpagiferidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Magellan plunderfishHarpagifer bispinis (Forster, 1801) | HarpagiferidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Harpagifer marionensis Nybelin, 1947 | HarpagiferidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Harpagifer bispinis georgianus Nybelin, 1947 Nybelin, 1947 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Nybelin, O. (1947). Antarctic fishes. Scientific Results of the Norwegian Antarctic Expeditions (1927-1931)., 2 (26): 1–76, Pls. 1–6. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3JS89. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.